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LE STRANGE RECORDS

LE STRANGE
RECORDS

A CHRONICLE

OF THE EARLY LE STRANGES

OF NORFOLK AND THE MARCH OF WALES

A.D. 1100-1310

WITH THE LINES OF KNOCKIN AND BLACKMERE
CONTINUED TO THEIR EXTINCTION

Vndique Reptrta
BY

HAMON LE STRANGE, M.A., F.S.A.

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS

LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO.

39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON

FOURTH AVENUE & SOTH STREET. NEW YORK
BOMBAY, CALCUTTA, AND MADRAS

1916

PREFACE

THE present volume is an attempt to write the early history of
the family from records of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries
which have come down to us ; it is composed on the principle of
printing original documents in full, and in the tongue, Latin,
Norman-French, or English, in which they were written. All
dates have been reduced to the New Style, with the year commenc-
ing on January i, and place names have been generally modernized.

In addition to the Rolls and Charters at the Public Record
Office and the British Museum, which have been searched, con-
siderable use has been made of the family Muniments preserved
at Hunstanton Hall. They are kept in a small vaulted chamber,
originally the guard-room of the Gate-House, built in the reign
of Henry VII. It contains a large number of early Rolls and
Charters, many of which documents were not noticed in the
meagre description of this collection, given in the Third Report
of the Historical Manuscripts Commission (pp. 271-274), by
the late Mr. Alfred Horwood, who was only able to devote two
days to the examination thereof. They were arranged, and a
full Repertory of them was made by the late Mr. Henry Harrod,
F.S.A., in 1869. The series of manorial Rolls relating to the
Norfolk estates of the family is extraordinarily ample, running
from the reign of Henry III onwards, though of course there are
many gaps in the series.

During the two centuries dealt with these early Le Stranges
took an active part in the public events of their day, and in order

vi PREFACE

to make their actions intelligible it has been necessary to weave
into the story a certain amount of English history. For the
correction of the historical portions of the narrative in the light
of modern research, I am greatly indebted to Professor T. F.
Tout, of the Victoria University of Manchester, who has given
me much help, particularly with regard to the March of Wales,
which he has made an especial object of study. Reference is
given to the original authorities for all genealogical statements,
and nothing not susceptible of strict proof has been admitted, so
as, if possible, to avoid the intermixture of fact and fable usually
found in familv histories.

H. LE S.

HUNSTANTON HALL,

April 4, 1916.
L.S.D.

CONTENTS

CBAPTKK PAC1

PREFACE v

ILLUSTRATIONS ix

PEDIGREES x

ABBREVIATIONS OF REFERENCES xi

I. ROLAND LE STRANGE, circa 1112 i

II. JOHN LE STRANGE (I), circa 1135-1178 23

III. JOHN LE STRANGE (II), 1178-1234 59

IV. JOHN LE STRANGE (III), 1234-1269 99

V. JOHN LE STRANGE (IV), 1269-1275 154

VI. JOHN LE STRANGE (V), 1275-1309 185

VII. JOHN LE STRANGE (VI), 1309-1317 255

VIII. STRANGE OF BLACKMERE, 1309-1616 289

IX. STRANGE OF KNOCKIN, 1311-1514, AND STRANGE OF CREATION OF

1628 324

X. SUMMARY AND GENERAL REMARKS 351

XI. HERALDRY OF LE STRANGE 368

INDEX OF PERSONS 375

INDEX OF PLACES 393

INDEX OF SUBJECTS 402

ILLUSTRATIONS

PLATE

I. JOHN LE STRANGE (IV) TO GILBERT DE TYCHE-

WELLE To face p. 3

II. JOHN LE STRANGE (I) TO CASTLEACRE ... 5

III. ROGER FITZ WIMER TO CASTLEACRE, AND ALAN FITZ

FLAALD TO CASTLEACRE ..... ,, 6

IV. JOHN LE STRANGE (I) TO BINHAM ... 11

V. HENRY II TO GUY LE STRANGE. GRANT OF ALVELEY ,, 27
VI. PLAN OF KNOCKIN ,,65

VII. ROGER LE STRANGE TO EDWARD I, ANNOUNCING

DEATH OF LLEWELYN ..... 197

VIII. JOHN LE STRANGE (VI) TO HIS BROTHER HAMON.
ORIGINAL AND COUNTERPART OF GRANT OF HUN-
STANTON ....... ,, 260

IX. BRASS OF JOHN, STH LORD STRANGE, OF KNOCKIN,

AND JACQUETTA WOODVILLE .... 346

X. SEALS .......... ,, 370

1. HAWISE (LE STRANGE), WIDOW OF GRIFFITH

AP GWENWYNWYN, PRINCE OF POWIS.

2. ROGER LE STRANGE, OF ELLESMERE.

3. JOHN LE STRANGE (V), OF KNOCKIN.

4. FULK LE STRANGE, OF BLACKMERE.

5. JOHN LE STRANGE (VI), OF KNOCKIN.

PEDIGREES

MO. PAG*

I. HERLUIN AND HUGH DE PLAIZ . xiv

II. JOHN LE STRANGE (I) 22

LE STRANGE OF LITCHAM 53

III. JOHN LE STRANGE (II) 58

LE STRANGE OF FRANSHAM 96

IV. JOHN LE STRANGE (III) 98

PICHFORD 105

V. JOHN LE STRANGE (IV) 153

SOMERY 159

LE STRANGE OF EAST WALTON 180

VI. JOHN LE STRANGE (V) 184

OWEN GLENDOWER . . . 216

VII. JOHN LE STRANGE (VI) 254

VIII. STRANGE OF BLACKMERE 288

IX. BARONY OF STRANGE OF KNOCKIN 323

FITZ ALAN, ROYAL DESCENT 338

X. BARONY OF STRANGE, BY WRIT OF 1628 348

ABBREVIATIONS OF REFERENCES

BLOMEFIELD.

B.M.

C.A.D.

C.CH.R.

C.CL.R.

C.Doc. SCOT.

C.F.R.

C.I.P.M.

C.PAP.L.

C.P.R.

CARTHEW.

DUGD. BARON.
DUGD. MONAST.

DUGD. WARW.
EYTON.

FCEDERA.
LIBER NIGER.

All numbers enclosed in a. small square refer to Press-
marks in the Hunstanton Muniment Room.
History of Norfolk by Francis Blomefield and Charles

Parkin ; 8vo edition in n vols. (1805-10).
British Museum.

Calendar of Ancient Deeds in Public Record Office.
Charter Rolls.

Close Rolls.

Documents relating to Scotland.

,, Fine Rolls.

,, Inquisitions post mortem.

,, Papal Letters.

Patent Rolls.

' The Hundred of Launditch and Deanery of Brisley
in the County of Norfolk,' by G. A. Carthew ; 3
vols. 4to (1877-9).

' The Baronage of England,' by Sir William Dugdale ;
3 vols. in 2, fo. (1675-6).

' Monasticon Anglicanum,' by Sir William Dugdale ;
6 vols. New edition by J. Caley, H. Ellis, and
B. Bandinel (1817-30).

' The Antiquities of Warwickshire,' by Sir William
Dugdale ; fo. (1656).

' Antiquities of Shropshire,' by the Rev. R. W. Eyton ;

12 vols. 8vo (1854-1860).
Itinerary of Henry II., 8vo (1878).

Rymer's ' Fcedera/ fo. 4 vols. (1816-1830).

' Liber niger Scaccarii,' edited by W. Hearn ; 2 vols.
8vo (1771-1774).

Xll

ABBREVIATIONS OF REFERENCES

MORRIS'S WELSH WARS.

PIPE ROLLS.
P.R.O.

REGESTA.

ROT. CUR. REG.
ROT. HUNDR.
ROT. ORIG.

ROT. CLAUS.
ROT. PAT

us.}
)

ROUND, C.D.F.

ROUND, P.F.H.
TESTA DE NEVILL.

' The Welsh Wars of Edward I,' by John E. Morris
(1901).

Publications of the Pipe Roll Society.
Public Record Office.

' Regesta Regum Anglo-Normannorum, 1066-1100,'
by H. W. C. Davis (1913).

' Rotuli Curiae Regis, 6 Ric. I-i John ' ; edited by
Sir F. Palgrave (1835).

' Rotuli Hundredorum, Henr. III. and Edw. I ' ;

fo., 2 VOls., l8l2.

' Rotuli Originalium, Abbreviatio ; Hen. III-Edw.
Ill ' ; fo., 2 vols. (1805-1810).

Up to 1232 the Patent Rolls, and up to 1242 the
Close Rolls of Hen. Ill were printed in full by the
Commissioners of Public Records. After those dates
the references are to the Calendars thereof in course
of publication in the Rolls series.

Calendar of documents preserved in France illustrative
of the History of Great Britain and Ireland, 918-
1206, Record Office Publications (1899).

' Studies in Peerage and Family History,' by J.
Horace Round (1901).

' Testa de Nevill,' or ' Liber Feodorum,' printed by
the Record Commission, fo. (1807).

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LE STRANGE RECORDS

1100-1310
CHAPTER I

ROLAND LE STRANGE

Circa 1112

THE origin, so called, of any old family is usually founded on
fable, and that generally attributed to the house of Strange or le
Strange is no exception to the rule. Most of the printed genea-
logies follow Dugdale in saying that the family sprang from a
mythical Duke of Brittany, whose younger son, Guy, settled in
England. The name itself evidently points to a foreign origin ;
the Normans themselves were foreigners in England, and the
first ' Extraneus ' was a foreigner among the Normans, both
among those of Normandy as well as those of England. In the
eleventh century hereditary surnames were just beginning to
exist ; men were usually called, either by the name of the place
in which they lived, or from their occupation ; very often they
were simply described as the son of So-and-so, or else from some
personal peculiarity ; i.e. they were either ' de ' somewhere, or
Me* something, and, in each event, the father's appellation
might or might not be suitable to or be adopted by the son.
The account given by Dugdale is as follows :

It is said that, at a Justs held in the Peke of Derbyshire at Castle Peverell
(of which I have already taken notice in my discourse on the family of Fitz Warine),
where, amongst divers other persons of note, Oweyn Prince of Wales, and a son of

2 LE STRANGE RECORDS

the King of Scots, were present, there were also two sons of the Duke of Bretaigne ;
and that the younger of them, named Guy, was called Guy le Strange, from whom
the several families of the le Stranges did descend. 1

The wide acceptance of this legendary history of the family
is due to Dugdale, whose authority was Leland's ' Collectanea,'
published in 1612, while Leland's account is derived from an
English version of the French romance of Fulk fitz Warin. 2
The story quoted by Leland is to the effect that John, Duke of
Brittany, had ten sons, whom he sent to a tournament, proclaimed
at the Castle of the Peak by William Peverel of WMttington,
whose niece and heiress, Melette, together with the lands of
Whittington, was to be the prize of the victor ; that the lady
was won and duly espoused by Guarin de Metz, and after the
espousals that the nine elder sons of the Duke of Brittany re-
turned home, while the youngest remained in England and
acquired many fair lands by his sword, and was called ' Gwy le
Estraunge e de ly vindrent tous les grantz seignurs de Engleterre
qe ont le sournom de Estraunge.'

The details of this story stamp it as a romance for instance,
there were no ' dukes,' but ' counts ' of Brittany in the twelfth
century, and none of them was called John, nor had ten sons.
The legend, however, thus started into existence in the thirteenth
century, obtained full currency and belief until the middle of the
nineteenth. It was successively adopted by Leland, Glover,
Dugdale, Blomefield, and the modern peerages ; it was incor-
porated as gospel into the illuminated family pedigree, now in
the Evidence Room at Hunstanton Hall, which was begun by
Roger 1'Estrange of Hoe in 1686, and has been continued to the
present time. The bubble was not pricked until the publication
of the ' Antiquities of Shropshire ' in 1854-1860, by the Rev. R. W.
Eyton, to whom is entirely due the credit of not only disproving
the fabulous tale of the Trouvere, but of placing the early history
of the family on a sure foundation of fact, as the result of his un-
wearied and extensive researches at the Record Office and among
many original sources of information, topographical, genealogical,

1 Dugdale's Baronage, i. 663. * Leland's Coll. i. 261.

ROLAND LE STRANGE 3

and historical. Without his invaluable assistance the present
record could not have been compiled with any approach to accu-
racy, and the compiler desires to acknowledge to the fullest degree
his indebtedness to Eyton's labours, which justify, and indeed
necessitate, the ample quotations from his volumes which appear
below.

First, as to the story of the tournament and Guy le Strange,
son of John, Duke of Brittany, Eyton shows * that William Peverel
of Whittington was succeeded, not by his nieces, but by his sisters,
and that none of them was ever wife of Guarin de Metz ; that no
such person as ' Johan due de la Petite-Bretagne ' is known to
any record of that period ; that the tournament, if attended by
the persons mentioned, must have taken place between 1137
(when Owen Gwynedd succeeded to the sceptre of North Wales)
and 1147 (when the last William Peverel of Whittington died) ;
while ' the advent of Guy le Strange, as yet unmarried, at such a
period is irreconcilable with the fact that the three brothers'
[John, Hamon, and Guy] ' whom this narrative would make his
sons, were all enfeoffed by Henry II at a time when, according
to the same narrative, the eldest of them could not have been
of age/

Eyton has therefore looked to other sources for some probable
theory as to the origin and rise of the house of le Strange, and
he expresses his satisfaction that his researches have met with a
success seldom attainable in matters of such remote antiquity.

One of the most important evidences cited by him is the
following deed, still existing in the Muniment Room at Hunstanton
Hall. 2 It is written, as will be seen from the accompanying
photograph, in the clear handwriting of the middle of the thirteenth
century, on a piece of parchment measuring 7 inches by 5 J ; the
seal is gone, but the strip of parchment to which it was attached
remains. It is undated, but must have been executed before
1275, when John le Strange (IV) died ; nearly all the witnesses

1 Eyton, iii. 123-4.

1 I B.L.i. | N.B. All references consisting of letters and figures enclosed in a
small rectangle, like the above, are the Press-marks of documents in the Muniment
Room at Hunstanton.

B 3

4 LE STRANGE RECORDS

are Norfolk men, and several are from Hunstanton, or its imme-
diate neighbourhood. It is probable, therefore, that the deed was
executed at Hunstanton on some occasion when John (IV) visited
his Norfolk property, and if so, this would account for the deed
having been preserved where it was executed.

The photograph is very legible ; but for the benefit of readers
not used to the contractions of the period, I give a transcript
thereof in extended form :

Sciant presentes et futuri quod Ego Johannes Extraneus quartus, Dominus de
Cnokyn, Concessi et hac present! carta mea confirmaui Gilberto filio Gilbert! de
Tychewelle pro homagio et semicio suo omnes terras et tenementa que de me tenuit
in Hunstanestun, scilicet sexaginta acras terre cum pertinentiis cum mesuagio
in eadem terra sito in eadem villa, quas Rollandus extraneus antecessor meus
quondam dedit Henieo de Tychewell antecessori ipsius Gilberti in liberum marita-
gium cum Barbote cognata sua, cujus Barbote idem Gilbertus heres est. Concessi
etiam et hac carta mea confirmaui eidem Gilberti totam pasturam in campis de
Hunstanestun a Barbotesgate uersus austrum toto tempore anni aperto, cum
libera falda in ilia parte campi. Ita quod idem Gilbertus nullam pasturam
habebit a predicta via de Barbotesgate uersus aquilonem secundum formam
conuencionis dudum facte inter Dominum Johannem extraneum patrem meum
et Gilbertum patrem ipsius Gilberti. Habendum et tenendum omnia tenementa
predicta et pasturam predictam, cum libera falda, cum omnibus pertinentiis illi
et heredibus suis et assignatis de me et heredibus meis libere, quiete, et hereditarie.
Reddendo inde annuatim michi et heredibus meis quinque solidos argenti, scilicet,
ad festum sancti Andree xv denarios, et ad Pascham xv denarios, et ad festum
sancti Johannis in Estate xv denarios, et ad festum sancti Michaelis xv denarios
pro omni semicio consuetudine et exactione. Et ego Johannes et heredes mei
Warantizabimus, adquietabimus, et defendemus totam predictam terram et
pasturam cum libera falda et omnibus pertinentiis predicto Gilberto et heredibus
suis et assignatis per predictum seruicium contra omnes homines in perpetuum.
In cujus rei testimonium huic scripto sigillum meum apposui. Hiis Testibus,
Domino Johanne de Lee, Domino Rogero de Tof tes, Domino Hamone de Mustroyl,
Andrea de Syarnebrune, 1 Willelmo Tristram, Rogero des Hys de Hunstanestun,
Galfrido Banyard, Roberto Buleman, Willelmo filio Ricardi, Johanne Bagge,
Willelmo Coco, et allis.

The designation ' Johannes Extraneus quartus, Dominus de
Cnokyn/ as the punctuation of the original shows, undoubtedly
means the fourth le Strange, who was called John, and not the
fourth lord of Knokyn there are several instances in the family

1 Shernbourne.

ROLAND LE STRANGE 5

charters in which the grantor styles himself John the third,
fourth, fifth, or sixth, for the sake of distinction.

Here, then, we have proof that Roland was an ancestor of the
four successive John le Stranges, the first of whom appears in
public life as early as 1155, so that, as Eyton points out, Roland
must have lived at least as early as the reign of Henry I.

Another deed, discovered by Eyton in the Castleacre Chartu-
lary, 1 settles decisively that Roland le Strange was the father of
John le Strange (I) and his three brothers, and also gives the name
of Roland's wife as Matilda. This charter must have passed
between 1160, when Hamo died, and 1179, when John died.
It has been printed by Eyton, but is so important on genealogical
grounds that I give a photograph of it from the copy preserved in
the Castleacre Chartulary, 2 as well as an extended version of it.

Sciant presentes et futuri quod Ego Johannes Extraneus dedi deo et sancte
Marie de Acra et monachis ibidem deo servientibus vi acras terre in campo de
lucheam, 3 in fine culture de melegrene, in liberam et perpetuam elemosynam,
pro salute anime patris mei Rollandi et Matilde matris mee et Hamonis fratris
mei et mee et heredum meorum, et omnium parentum meorum. Hujus
donacionis testes sunt, Willielmus capellanus de lucheam, Willielmus films
Alani, Radulfus Extraneus, 4 Galfridus de Berlingeham, 5 Willielmus des Baus,
Durannus Extraneus, 6 Willielmus de Burna, 7 Petrus de Hunstanston, Lefwinus
prepositus, Walterus de Hunstanston, Hamo clericus, Gwido filius Rogeri,
Rogerus faber.

The Castleacre Chartulary has also preserved to us two
more deeds, made, as Eyton thinks, early in the reign of Henry I,
in each of which the name of Roland le Strange is found as a
witness. The first of these is a grant by Roger son of Wimer, who
was Steward (Dapifer) to the second William de Warenne, Earl of
Surrey, of the church of Kempston, with other Norfolk churches,
tithes, and lands to the Priory of Castleacre, which had been
founded in 1085 ; the name of the first lay witness to this deed
is given as ' Rodlando ext a neo.'

The second charter is a grant from Alan fitz Flaald and

1 Eyton, x. 260. Harl. MSS. 2110, fo. 34. Litcham. ^

1 Probably of Little Ercall, youngest brother of the grantor.
* Burlingham, between Norwich and Yarmouth. Of Litcham.

7 Burnham.

6 LE STRANGE RECORDS

Adelina his wife, the ancestors of the fitz Alan family, to the same
priory of lands in Kempston and other Norfolk places, the third
witness thereto being ' Ruai Ext 5 neo,' followed by ' Gorhanno '
and 'Oddone.' These early charters have been printed in full
in Dugdale's ' Monasticon,' 1 and in part by Carthew, 2 so it is
not worth reprinting them here, but I give photographs of them
from the Castleacre Chartulary. 3

In the fifty years which have elapsed since Eyton wrote, only one
document has come to light which contains mention of ' Roland'
le Strange, under a variant of the -name which, at first sight,
might seem doubtful, but the context of the charter, both as to
persons and localities, renders it reasonably certain that ' Riual-
lonus ' Extraneus may be identified with the ' Ruallus ' or ' Rual-
dus ' who attested Alan fitz Flaald's grant to Castleacre. In Mr.
J. Horace Round's ' Calendar of Documents Preserved in France,
Illustrative of the History of Great Britain and Ireland, 918-1206,'
issued in 1899 among the publications of the Record Office, there
occurs a charter, 4 undated, but considered by Mr. Round to have
been passed before the year 1122, which belongs to the Abbey of
St. Florent on the Loire, near Saumur, in Anjou. It is in the
form of a notification that Alan son of Flaald has granted to St.
Florent and his monks the church and tithes of Sporle in Norfolk
(not far from Castleacre), with certain lands there and in the neigh-
bouring parish of Mileham, free from all claims, specially from
that of the monks of the Holy Trinity [Norwich Cathedral], and
assigning to them twenty shillings a year from his ferm of Sporle.
The testing clause is as follows :

Testes sunt hi : Arketellus presbiter ; Ivo diaconus de laicis, Odo de Nor-
guico ; Hamo Got Gurhant ; Riuallonus Extraneus ; Garinus de Marisco ; Urfoen
filius Fulcherii ; Alarms Uruoni films ; Bondo ; Torkil films eius ; Riuallonus
raonachorum famulus ; Osbertus et Arketellus frater eius.

Two of these witnesses, viz. Odo of Norwich and Hamo Got Gur-
hant, may perhaps be identified with the ' Oddo ' and ' Gorhannus '
who, as we have seen, attested the same grantor's gift to Castleacre.

1 Ed. 1817-30, v. 51. * History of Launditch, ii. 118 and 123.

Harl. MSS. 2110, fo. 26. P. 414, No. 1149.

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ROLAND LE STRANGE 7

Professor T. F. Tout, who has given me much assistance,
especially with regard to anything connected with Wales or Welsh
names, considers that the source of the name is the Celtic ' Rhi-
wallon ' (mod. Welsh), not ' Rolandus,' though he suspects that the
two may be connected ; hence the right form in Latin would be
'Ruallus' rather than Rualdus, though 'IT often='ld/ as, e.g.
4 vadletus ' = ' vallettus.' Round, in his ' Peerage and Family
History,' p. 123, calls him Rhiwallon Extraneus; Professor Tout
says that it is perhaps better to call him Riuallonus rather than
Rivallonus, as it shows that the name was the same in Brittany,
as the Rhiwallon of the Welsh.

Mr. Round also cites four other charters which mention a
' Riuallonus,' but do not give him any surname, so he cannot with
certainty be identified with the Riuallonus Extraneus of Alan fitz
Flaald's charter to St. Florent ; moreover, these charters are
about forty years earlier in date. The first of them is a confirma-
tion, dated the I4th of June 1082, by William I, of a grant by Count
Robert of Mortain to St. Martin of Marmoutier, near Tours, of a
church and land ; the last witness thereto is ' Geoffrey Riual-
lonidis.' 1 The next charter is an undated grant by William I to
the church of St. Mary, Mortain, of Puddle Hinton, co. Dorset,
among the witnesses to which is ' Geoffrey son of Riuallon.' 2
The third is another undated grant by William I of land at Ceaux
to the Holy Trinity at Fecamp and St. Stephen of Caen, at the
prayer of William, son of Riuallon of Dol, Abbot of St. Florent, and
of his brother John, a monk in the said house. 3 Round says that
this gift was certainly made before December 26, 1083, when an
agreement relating to it was concluded between the monks of
St. Florent and Mont St. Michel.

The last of the four charters is an undated notification of a
grant of land by Robert of Mortain to the monks of St. Martin at
Mortain, the first witness thereto being ' Gaufredus Riuallonides ' ;
Round dates this as circa 1095.*

1 Round, C.D.F., No. 1201 ; Regesta, i. 39, No. 145.

* Round, C.D.F., No. 1206 ; Regesta, i. 55, No. 204.

1 Round, C.D.F., No. 1116; Regesta, i. 44, No. 158.
4 Round, C.D.F., No. 1205.

8 LE STRANGE RECORDS

The grant of Alan fitz Flaald to Castleacre is especially inte-
resting, in that it locates in France, and associates together there,
the ancestor of the Fitzalans and of the Royal House of Stewart,
with Roland, the first known ancestor of the House of le Strange.
Concerning the latter individual nothing further has come down
to us ; as to who he was or whence he came we know nothing,
except that, at a period when names had a real meaning, he was
called ' the Stranger ' or ' the Foreigner/ and was known by that
designation in France as well as in England. Eyton 1 draws
attention to the fact that the appellation was originally borne by,
or applied to, more than one family in England ; he instances
Mabel, the eldest daughter and eventual co-heiress of Warin de
Buwardsley, himself a grandson of that Warin de Metz who figured
in the story of the tournament at Peverel ; the Pipe Rolls of
6 Richard I (A.D. 1194) contain a pardon granted to Adam de
Beysin, a tenant in chief, for marrying without licence Warm's
daughter, therein described as Mabel le Strange. From this
Eyton draws the inference that Warin de Metz was not only akin
to the family of le Strange, but might well be described by the
same name.

Eyton, though he had never seen the St. Florent charter,
narrowly missed apprehending the Breton connection of Flaald.
He was aware that the Abbey of St. Florent possessed several
ancient cells in England, among them that of Sporle in Norfolk,
with which Alan fitz Flaald had something to do, and he sur-
mises 2 that this connection pointed to some fact in their early his-
tory which was not patent to him. Further, he pointed out that
Henry I endeavoured to strengthen his hold on the sceptre by
creating a new aristocracy, selected not exclusively from among
the Normans, but largely from others, both foreigners and English
of doubtful origin, such as Warin de Metz and fitz Flaald, whom
he brought into England and enfeoffed in many counties there.
Such scanty evidence as there is seems to point to the conjecture
that the le Stranges were ultimately Breton, as the original Celtic
name Riuallon suggests: if so, 'extraneus' probably meant just

1 Eyton, ii. 7.

1 Eyton, vii. 211-232 ; Arch&olog. Journal for 1856, xiii. 333-354.

ROLAND LE STRANGE 9

what ' Welsh ' meant to English and Germans, viz. the man
speaking a strange tongue. It must be admitted, however, that
we have no evidence that Dol and its district ever spoke Breton
but rather the contrary.

Mr. J. H. Round * disco vered the real parentage of Flaald in the
charters of St. Florent de Saumur. These show that he was the
son of Alan, the dapifer of Dol, on the borders of Brittany, and
was present at the dedication of Monmouth Priory in 1101 or
1102. A little group of families from Dol appear to have settled
in England, where Alan founded Sporle Priory in Norfolk as a
cell of St. Florent, and among the Bretons who witnessed the
charter of its foundation is seen, says Mr. Round, the name of
Rhiwallon Extraneus, ' the founder of the Norfolk family of le
Strange, which, more than five centuries later, was so ardent in its
loyalty to Alan's descendants, the Stuart Kings of England.'

The Breton connection is of further interest as indicating that
there is a grain of truth in the Trouvere legend, quoted by Leland
and Dugdale, that the first of the family who came to England
was son of a Duke of Brittany.

During the whole of the twelfth century we have evidence of
constant and intimate association between the fitz Alans and the
le Stranges. We have seen that William fitz Alan witnessed the
grant of John le Strange (I) to Castleacre, and that John's father,
Roland, witnessed Alan fitz Flaald's grant to the same priory, as
well as his charter to St. Florent. Both families were connected
with the counties of Norfolk and of Shropshire ; we shall see
below that John le Strange (I) held land in Hunstanton under
fitz Alan, and that his brother Guy had a grant of lands in War-
wickshire from William fitz Alan. For several successive genera-
tions it may almost be said that there is not a fitz Alan charter
that is not witnessed by a le Strange, and vice versa. Such
reiterated acts of intimacy and interdependence between two
families which, as has been shown, came from oversea from the
same corner of Brittany, seem to point to some community of
blood. Is it not likely that Roland, known over there as 'the

1 P.FJI., pp. 115-130.

io LE STRANGE RECORDS

Stranger/ may have been kinsman to Alan, possibly also an
' extraneus ' or foreigner, the dapifer of Dol ? This is a mere
surmise, warranted by no proof, but a random shot may some-
times hit the mark.

Whether kinsmen or not, it is clear that Alan of Dol and Roland
came from the same region, and it is somewhat curious that this
man from the March of Brittany should have got his establish-
ment in England from the analogous district of the Welsh March.
It is desirable to lay special stress on the point, already mentioned,
that le Strange belongs to a group of ' new men/ from the extreme
west of Normandy and Anjou, with connections and names from
the other side of the Breton border, whom the policy of Henry I
transplanted into England with the object of counterbalancing
the dangerous power of the Norman nobles already settled there
by the introduction of new blood drawn from his hereditary
possessions oversea. Early chroniclers, connected perhaps by
family ties with the first Norman settlers, depreciate the social
standing of the new-comers ; Orderic-Vitalis, for instance, says : *

Alios . . . de ignobili stirpe illustravit, de pulvere, ut ita dicam, extulit. . . .
Inde Goiffedus de Clintona, Radulfus Basset, et Hugo de Bocalanda, Guillegrip et
Rainerius de Bada, Guillielmus Trossebot, et Haimon de Falesia, Guigan Algazo,
et Robertus de Bostare, aliique plures.

It was probably prejudice which made Orderic say that all the
new men were ' de infimo genere/

Mr. Round 2 has called attention to the group of families from
Dol, whom Henry I knew in his youth, when as a younger son he
was lord of the Cotentin, and whom, when king, he endowed with
fiefs in England. In addition to Alan fitz Flaald, he cites :

Richard de ReViers, ancestor of the Earls of Devon, the Hayes of Haye-du-
Puits, were given the Honour of Halnaker (Sussex) ; the Aubignys, afterwards
Earls of Arundel, obtained from him a fief in Norfolk ; the two St. John brothers,
from St. Jean-le-Thomas, were granted lands in Oxfordshire and Sussex, and
founded another famous house ; while the family of Paynel also, sprung from
the Cdtentin, owed to Henry lands in England.

If ' Roland-Rhiwallon ' be, as is most likely, connected with

1 Lib. xi. c. 2. P.F.H. 123-4.

Plate IV.

tit mrnl* tmn ra
Htois<jnf {titizpu? raoltce fifth f

coto irntmc mce^ InTmci

^ jrhoi

met ^inm jDcimi
IrUnm ^temojtmn

too ^ccnc fte
owi iwmtc er|eritlp jej

fuac)|i'twtil /torn torft

f^m VOT flhj W&& l^tmjtenejton. ^^tmJ-pirjbofc
tfr It Swrncf foam fil' 8unri>%fl"lc In^ojet^Q^i^w fr*c?jT

i-^id^

fflbte meTncc^jnluht ftife&m'fcm %t9r anbinn ^jjr

JOHN LE STRANGE (1.) to BINHAM.

To face page 11.

ROLAND LE STRANGE n

Rhiwallon, lord of Dol, and the other St. Florent monks, he was
clearly a man of standing at home, and by no means a novus
homo. King Henry's need of replacing the disloyal Robert of
Belleme and his house would be a special reason for establish-
ing old and tried supporters like the fitz Alans and le Stranges
in Shropshire and its district.

If we are unable to trace, save by conjecture, the paternal
pedigree of John le Strange (I) further back than his father Roland
in the early years of the twelfth century, Eyton has shown that on
his mother's side there is good warrant for giving him an ancestry
of three generations, through which he inherited the greater part of
his Hunstanton estate ; and, further, that it is to this inheritance
that we must look if we wish to account for the great ascendancy
and territorial influence of the family during the twelfth and
thirteenth centuries. Much of this proof is derived from a deed
whereby John le Strange (I) gave a part of his Norfolk estate, viz.
Edgefield in the Hundred of Holt, to Binham Priory ; this deed
has been printed by Eyton, though not quite in full, so I give
Eyton's extended version of it here, as well as a photograph of
it from the Binham Chartulary in the British Museum. 1 It is
headed therein by the words ' Cart a Johannis le Strange, de
terra de Egefeld que fuit quondam terra Radulfi de Hunstaneston.'

Notum sit omnibus tarn presentibus quam futuris Catholice fidei cultoribus
quod Ego Johannes cognomento le Strange, assensu et voto Uxoris mee et here-
dum meorum pro amore Dei et sancte Dei genetricis Virginis Marie, pro salute
et remedio anime mee et domini mei regis Henrici junioris et Alienoris regine et
filiorum ipsorum et omnium parentum eorum, et pro salute Willelmi Comitis de
Harundel domini mei, et Adelize regine et nliorum ipsorum et parentum ipsorum
et pro salute uxoris mee, et heredum meorum, et pro animabus patris mei et matris
mee et omnium parentum meorum, do et presenti ferie scripto confirmo in liberam
elemosynam Deo et ecclesie sancte Marie de Binham et monachis ibidem Deo et
ecclesie sancte Marie famulantibus libere et quiete prorsus et ab omni accione et
seculari servicio jure perpetuo erga me et heredes meos et erga omnes homines,
Mum illud feodum quod Radulfus de Hanestaneston habuit in villa de Egesfeld,
etfilius eius Simon post eum, deindej "rater ipsius Reginaldus le Brun, quibus ego ut
legitimus her es jure hereditario successi. Trado itaque predictum ex integro feodum
in terra etbosco et homagio et omnibus quibus libet pertinentiis et consuetudinibus
jure elemosinario michi tarn penitus vel successoribus meis in posteram reservatis

Cotton MS. Cland., D. xiii., fo. 87.

12 LE STRANGE RECORDS

nisi solum modo orncionum subsidia. Hujus donacionis testes sunt : Radulfus Le
Strange?- Willelmus de Hunstaneston, Ranulphus clericus persona ecclesie eiusdem
ville et films eius, Walterus Bochlandus Normannus, Willelmus filius Willelmi
de Hunstaneston, Regerius, Simon, Nicholas, Willelmus de Baucis, Hamo filius
Bunch, Willelmus de la More et Simon frater eius, Willelmus filius Radulfi de
Beccam, Rueldus de Camis et filii eius Briencius et Fabianus, Audoenus Malpas,
Galfridus de Leringsete, Michael Portarius de Binham, Alanus de Binham.

Eyton shows that this grant must have been made not later
than January 1174, as the Chartulary from which it is quoted con-
tains also a recital and confirmation of it, 2 made at the petition
of John le Strange by William Turbus, Bishop of Norwich, who
died on January 16, 1174. The grant proves that three genera-
tions previously Edgefield had been in the possession of Ralph
de Hunstanton, and since then successively in that of his sons,
Simon and Reginald le Brun, after whom it came to John le
Strange as the direct heir. Simon and Reginald must therefore
have died without issue, and John must have been the son of
their sister, not named in this deed, but whose name, Matilda,
is mentioned by John in his grant to the Priory of Castleacre. 3
Ralph de Hunstanton, the maternal grandfather of John le Strange
(I), is undoubtedly the same as Ralph fitz Herluin, recorded in
Domesday as a vassal of Roger Bigod, holding land under him at
Hunstanton and Tottington. 4

TERRA ROGERI BIGOT. HUNDRED OF SMETHEDUNA. HUNESTATUNA is held
by Ralf son of Herluin. 2 ploughs on the demesne, and it was held by i free-
man T.R.E. Then and afterwards 12 villeins, now 6 ; then as now 6 bordars ;
then and afterwards 3 serfs, now 2. Then and afterwards 6 ploughs belonging
to the men, and 5 acres, now 5| ; then i mill, now 2, and i fishery. Then as now
i rouncey, then i beast ; wood (land) for 40 swine ; then 16 swine, now 51.
Then 80 sheep, now 50 ; 5 hives of bees. Here belong (jacent) 2 sokemen (with)
10 acres. t The same (holds it). Then and afterwards it was worth 3 pounds, now
4. There too (in eadem) Torn, a freeman, held T.R.E. i plough on the demesne,
then 3 villeins, now 2. Then 4 bordars, now 5. Then and afterwards 3 serfs,
and 2^ acres of meadow. Then as now half a plough belonging to the men, i
fishery. Then i cow. Then 30 sheep. And 3 sokemen (with) 5 acres of land.
Then as now it was worth 20 shillings. The whole is i league in length and i
league in breadth, and pays 16 pence in 20 shillings of geld.

In TOTINTUNA Ralf son of Herluin holds 4 ploughlands which Alivi he

1 Probably the grantor's brother, of Childs' Ercall. * Ibid. fo. 87.

Supra, p. 5. * Domesday, Norfolk fac-simile, cxxx.

ROLAND LE STRANGE 13

T.R.E. ; then and afterwards 15 villeins, now 4 ; then and afterwards 10 bordars,
now 17. Then and afterwards 8 serfs, now 4 ; 24 acres of meadow ; then as now
3 ploughs on the demesne. Then and afterwards 5 ploughs belonging to the men,
now 3. Woodland for 30 swine, now I mill. And then as now 3 sokemen (with)
95 acres. Then and afterwards 2 ploughs, now nothing, but they could be (re-
stored) ; then as now I rouncey ; then 17 beasts, now 19. Then 32 swine, now
12. Then 140 sheep, now 140 less 3 ; 24 goats. Then 63 mares, now 15. Then
and afterwards it was worth 80 shillings, now 60. The whole is 2 leagues in
breadth [sic : for ' length '], and i in breadth whoever may hold there, and (it
pays) 15 pence for geld. 1

In addition to the above Domesday shows that Ralf fitz
Herluin had the following holdings in various parts of Norfolk.
In Ringstead * he held of the soke under the abbey of St. Benet's ;
in Snetterton one ploughland for a manor, worth 2os. He had a
further holding in Hunstanton 3 of 4 freemen with 65 acres, and
2 oxen worth 45. ; and in Sturston 4 I freeman with 60 acres
worth Sd. At Bexwell 5 in the Hundred of Clackclose he had
i freeman with 20 acres of land worth 2s. Sd. ; and in Downham 6
i freeman with 12 acres, of the value of i6d. All the above were
held of Roger Bigod, who was tenant in chief. Under William
de Scohies Ralf fitz Herluin was mesne tenant in Massingham, 7
where he held one ploughland, value 55. ; and under Rainald, son
of Ivo, Herluin, held 100 acres of land in Haveringland, 8 worth 2os.
He had also half a ploughland, worth ios., at Tortuna (afterward
known as ' Middleton's ' in Booton and Witchingham). 9 Finally
among the encroachments, entered at the end of Domesday, we
find 10 that Ralf held the soke of Snetterton under Earl Roger.

Thus it appears that, at the period of Domesday, Ralf fitz
Herluin was in possession of a considerable estate spread over
nine or ten parishes in the county of Norfolk. Eyton imagines u
that Ralf's fee was afterwards greatly increased by subinfeudation
from William de Albini, the Pincema (or Butler) of Henry I ;
and indeed there seems to be no other way of accounting for
the fact that Ralf's grandson, John le Strange (I), held five knights'

1 Translation in Victoria History of Norfolk, ii. 96. * Ibid. ii. 95.

8 Ibid. ii. 106. * Ibid. ii. 113. 6 Ibid. ii. 113.

1 Ibid. "> Ibid. ii. 145. 8 Ibid. ii. 158.

Ibid. ii. 159. l8 Ibid. ii. 200. u Ibid. x. 264.

I 4 LE STRANGE RECORDS

fees in Hunstanton and elsewhere in Norfolk under William de
Albini (II), Earl of Arundel. Beside the land which Ralf inherited
from his father Herluin, or acquired himself, he further inherited,
through his wife Helewisa, the daughter of Hugh de Plaiz, of
Barnham, in Suffolk, near Thetford. Eyton thinks that it is
probable that Ralf de Plaiz, who between the years 1107 and 1120
granted lands to Thetford Priory, 1 was son and heir of Hugh, and
that Ralf de Plaiz was identical with that Ralf fitz Hugh to
whom William de Albini (I) gave two knights* fees in Norfolk in
the time of Henry I. 2

A lawsuit in the time of Richard I furnishes much information
as to Ralf fitz Herluin and his wife and relations. It appears from
the pleadings that the manor of Bernham (or Barnham) in Suffolk
had been given in the reign of Henry I by Reginald le Brun,
the second son of Ralf fitz Herluin, to the Priory of Thetford.
In the year 1194 Simon de Perepunt, as attorney for John le
Strange (II), sued Ralf de Plaiz for land at Barnham held by him,
for the purpose of warranting to the monks. Simon de Perepunt
claimed it on the ground that it had descended to John le Strange
through Reginald le Brun, uncle of John (I), father of the said John,
and as being the same land as had been given by Hugh de Plaiz
to his daughter Helewisa when she married Ralf fitz Herluin. The
Prior of Thetford agreed to renounce all his rights in one caru-
cate of land in Barnham in favour of John le Strange, on condition
that the latter gave to the monks in exchange 2os. worth of
land at Tottington in Norfolk. The entry in the Plea Rolls is
as follows : 8

Simon de Perepunt, positus loco Johannis extranei, petit versus Radulphum
de Plaiz terrain de Bernham cum ejus pertinentiis, quam idem Radulphus tenet,
tenendam de eodem Radulpho ad warantizandam monachis de Tieford sicut jus
suum quod ei descendit ex parte Reginald! le Brun, avunculi Johannis extranei,
patris ipsius Johannis, et ut illam quam Hugo de Plaiz dedit cum Helewisa filia
sua in matrimonium Radulpho filio Herlewini, et post illam tenuit earn Reginaldus
le Brun, filius predicti Radulphi filius Helewise, quam idem Radulphus le Brun de-
dit tempore Henrici regis patris domini regis in elemosinam ecclesie et monachis

1 Eyton, x. 261. * Liber Niger, i. 287.

8 Abbreviatio Placitorum, Ric. I-Edw. II, p. 5, a SUFFOLC', rot. 3 ; Rot. Cur. Regis.
i, 13, 20, 23.

ROLAND LE STRANGE 15

de Tieford. Et Radulphus de Plaiz venit et dixit quod non tenet earn in dominico
set Radulphus le Neveu tenet de eo et nihil habet in terra ilia nisi servicium terre
illius. Et Radulphus nepos dixit quod tenet terrain illam, &c. Postea ut patet
eodem rotulo in dorso concordatum est inter Martinum priorem de Tieford et
Johannem extraneum de una carucata terre in Bernham quam predictus prior
clamavit versus ipsum Johannem scilicet quod predictus prior quietum clamavit in
perpetuum de se et successoribus suis prefato Johanni et heredibus suis totum jus
et clameum quod habuit in predicta terra. Et pro hac quieta clamancia Johannes
dedit priori et conventui de Tieford xx solidatas terre in Totington, &c., per metis
in recordo expressis.

Some entries as to the progress of this suit are given in ' Three
Rolls of the King's Court in the Reign of Richard I, A.D. 1194-5,'
published by the Pipe Roll Society in 1891, pp. 10, 14, 60.

Only one mention of Hunstanton in any document of earlier
date than Domesday is known to me ; this occurs in the Will
of iElfric, Bishop of Elmham, preserved in the British Museum. 1
It is written in Anglo-Saxon, but a transcript with English transla-
tion has been printed by B. Thorpe, 2 and a full-sized photograph
is given in ' Facsimiles of Ancient Charters in the B.M.' 3 The
bishop speaks of his property as having been acquired under
King Cnut, and afterwards lawfully holden under King Harold,
to whom he leaves two marks of gold ; the will must therefore
have been written between 1035, when Cnut died, and 1039,
the year of his son Harold's death. Among the bequests is
the following :

' I give the land at Hunstanes tune by Eastbrook, and with the land at
Holme to St. Eadmunds.'

The clerks who transcribed the Norfolk Domesday exercised
considerable ingenuity in producing variants in the spelling of
the name Hunstanton: it appears as Hunestuna, Hunestatuna,
Huntanestuna, Hunestanesteda, and, finally, in two words, as
Hunesta Nestuna.

Domesday was not compiled on the plan of taking each place
separately and showing who held land there, but, contrariwise,
on the plan of taking each tenant-in-chief and setting down what
land he held, and who were his sub-tenants, in the various parishes

1 Bibl. Cotton, ii. 85. * Diplomatarium JEvi Saxonici, p. 567.

Part IV., fo. Lend. 1878.

16 LE STRANGE RECORDS

throughout the county. It is worth while, therefore, to collect
these scattered notices of Hunstanton, and to place them together
so as to attain to a complete view of how the land of that parish
was held in the year 1086.

The parish was divided between King William himself and
three of his tenants-in-chief viz. Roger Bigod, the Bishop of
Thetford, and John, nephew of Waleran. The part held by the
king is entered under ' Lands of Bishop Stigand which William
de Noiers keeps in the King's hand.' The entry is as follows : x

HUNDRED OF METHEDUNA (Smithdon).

HUNESTAKESTEDA was held by Stigand T.R.E. ; then 2 ploughs on the
demesne, when W[illiam] received it i|, and now the same ; then as now 16
villeins and 4 bordars. Then 3 serfs, afterwards and now I, and 8 acres of meadow
Then 2 ploughs belonging to the men, afterwards and now i| ; then i mill, half a
fishery ; then i rouncey 2 and now the same, and 2 beasts. And 14 swine and 44
sheep, and 4 sokemen with 60 acres. Then it was worth 70 shillings, afterwards
and now no. Here used to belong T.R.E. i freewoman with 30 acres of land ;
afterwards Ralf the Earl had this for 3 years before he made forfeiture, and when
he made forfeiture. Afterwards Robert Blund held this, and Godric (held it) to
farm for 305. with other land. Siward has once more joined this to this manor,
and does not pay Godric the farm ; and W[illiam] de Noiers has added 4 sokemen
of St. Benet's with 4 acres of land. The whole is one league in length and half
[a league] in breadth, and pays 6 pence [for a geld] of 20 shillings whoever may
hold there.

The portion of the ' land of Roger Bigot ' was all held by Ralf
fitz Herluin, and has been transcribed above. Under the heading
' The Fief of the Bishop of Thetford ' is the following entry : 8

HUNDRED OF SMETHEDUNA.

HUNESTANESTUNA was held by i sokeman of Stigand T.R.E. (as) i ploughland,
and (there was) i plough. Then (there were) 3 bordars, now 2, and 2\ acres of
meadow ; half a mill ; wood(land) for 24 swine. Then (there was) i fishery.
The whole is worth 10 shillings.

Under the heading of ' Land of St. Benet of Ramsey ' is a
long entry 4 respecting Ringstead, which was held then in chief by

1 liv.-lv., Viet. Hist, of Norf. ii. 62-3. * A heavy draught horse.

8 CLXXVIII. Viet. Hist, of Norf . ii. 119. CCXIV. Viet. Hist, of Norf . ii. 139.

ROLAND LE STRANGE 17

that abbey. It concludes with a notice that 31 sokemen have
been taken away from this manor who belonged to it T.R.E. ;
of these the King's manor in Hunstanton has I with 2 acres. The
only other entry mentioning Hunstanton is under the heading of
1 The Lands of John, Nephew of Waleran ' : l

HUNDRED OF SMETHEDUNA.

HUNESTA NESTUNA is held by John [Bou], the same held it T.R.E. Then
[there were] 2 ploughs, afterwards i, now 2. Then as now 4 [villeins]. Then and
afterwards 5 bordars, now 7. Then and afterwards 3 serfs, now 4, and 2 acres of
meadow then as now [belonged] to the men. Then [there was] I cow, now 8
beasts (animalia). Now 40 swine. Then I sheep, now 40, and 3 hives of bees ;
and i sokeman with 5 acres, then and afterwards it was worth 20 shillings, now
40. [There is] i church without land.

It must be borne in mind that the Domesday acre was a vari-
able quantity, considerably larger than the acre of to-day ; the
120 acres, commonly reputed to have constituted a hide, contained,
according to Eyton, 2 an area at least twice as great as that of
modern statute acres. The acre of 4840 square yards was settled
by statute of 31 Edw. I.

The table on p. 18 gives an analysis of the various entries
relating to Hunstanton.

The population there shown is :

Freemen ..... 6

Sokemen . . . . .16

Villeins . . . . .28

Bordars . . . . .24

Serfs . . . . .10

Multiplying these figures by 5 for the average of each house-
hold would give a population of 420, and there must have been
several people not included in the returns, such as ecclesiastics,

1 CCCXIV. Viet. Hist, of Norf. ii. 187. * Eyton, xii. 152.

saag jo SOAIJJ

9UUS

JOS9JOV

I I I I IT I I

IIM

sjBpjog

S 1

M 1

8 i 8 I 8

N ^ M ' *

plough

I I I

TO W O) SHI

3uopq sqSnojd

M0pt:aj\[ }0

tfo

Lands of
gand whi
de Noier
the King

H o

Land o

Bishop

ROLAND LE STRANGE 19

and the mesne tenants themselves or their representatives, so the
population of those days could not have fallen very far short of
the twentieth century average of 490.

The live stock was very different to the present day ; there
were only 2 horses, i cow, and 8 ' beasts/ probably bullocks and
heifers, in the parish, though there were 164 sheep and 105
swine ; there must have been a good deal of woodland, as there
was sufficient to feed 64 swine.

The existence is recorded of 3j mills though how half a mill
could exist by itself is difficult to understand ; there were also
3j fisheries, but these were not held quite in the same hands as
the mills ; the King had i mill and only half a fishery ; Roger
Bigod's tenant, Ralf fitz Herluin, had 2 mills and 2 fisheries ;
while the Bishop of Thetford held i fishery but only half a mill.
It has been a matter of discussion whether any of the fisheries
mentioned in the Norfolk Domesday were sea-fisheries. From
the fact that in Hunstanton there were exactly the same number
of fisheries and mills the latter being no doubt water-mills and
having regard to the limited amount of running water in the place,
it looks as if all the fisheries were fresh water, and situated in
the pools above the respective mills.

The amount of meadow land recorded was very small, only
15 acres ; but there may have been some not included in the
land held by the freemen and inferior tenants. Fifteen ploughs
worked in the parish, whereof 7 belonged to the demesnes and 8
to the men ; the oxen for these ploughs, probably a team of 8 for
each plough, ought to be added to the head of live stock on the
ground, as they are clearly not included in any other part of the
returns. Eight hives of bees are thought worthy of mention,
as they supplied the lack of sugar of those days.

Then, as now, Hunstanton was situated in the Hundred of
Smithdon, or Smethdon (the smooth dunes), but it is as well to
call attention to the fact that not only has considerable readjust-
ment of parishes in the Hundreds of the north-west corner of
Norfolk been made since those days, but also that, in order to
make the units for collecting the King's geld more equal, consider-
able alterations of the primitive areas were made at the time of

C 2

20 LE STRANGE RECORDS

the Great Survey. The author of the introduction to Domesday
in the ' Victoria History of Norfolk ' x thinks that these northern
Hundreds were originally laid out so as to give to each of them a
proportion of salt marsh for its sheep ; possibly the arrangement
was made so as to assign some salt marsh to as many parishes
as possible rather than to each Hundred. Be that as it may,
one Domesday Hundred, that of Docking, has disappeared en-
tirely, having been absorbed by that of Smithdon . The greater part
of Snettisham was transferred from Smithdon to Freebridge, and
Brothercross and Gallow were arranged so that the latter ran up
to the north coast near Holkham. The Hundred of Smithdon,
as it existed at the date of Domesday, comprised only the following
parishes":

Holm. Secesford, with berewite of Frenge.

Hecham. Elvestorp (Ingoldisthorpe).

Rincsteda. Nettingnetuna (Eaton).

Hunestatuna. Tornham.

The Hundred of Docking contained the following :

Docking. Frenge.

Sutmere (Summer field). Broncestre.

Tigeswella (Titchwell). Brecham (Bircham).

Stanho. Niwetuna (Bircham Newton).

Part of Snettesham. Scernebruna (Shernbourne).

iRoland le Strange was succeeded by his eldest son John,
and also left three other sons, Hamon, Guy, and Ralph, all of
whom were enfeoffed in lands in Shropshire in the middle of the
twelfth century; it will, however, be more convenient to trace
what is known of them when dealing with their eldest brother,
John (I), in the following chapter. It does not, of course, follow
that, because no daughters are recorded, none existed. In feudal
times women, unless they were heiresses, were of small account.
If they were heiresses they were married while still of tender years,
and when their husbands died were often remarried three or
even four times, and may have sometimes then got a chance

ROLAND LE STRANGE 21

of pleasing themselves e.g. Alice de Lacy, of whom further
on. 1 But when they were not heiresses little is recorded of them,
even if their existence is mentioned ; filial piety sometimes has
preserved the Christian name of a mother in cases where, not
being an heiress, no mention of her father's name has come
down to us.

x Chapter VII.

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CHAPTER II

JOHN LE STRANGE (l)

Circa 1135-1178

IT has been shown in the preceding chapter that Roland le Strange,
who witnessed the St. Florent Charter circa 1122, left four sons,
viz. (i) John, who succeeded him; (2) Hamon; (3) Guy, and
(4) Ralph. As far as is known Roland possessed no property
elsewhere than in Norfolk ; yet, early in the reign of Henry II,
we find that at least three of his sons were enfeoffed of land in
Shropshire, though, curiously enough, the eldest brother was the
last to receive a grant there, perhaps because he already held
five knights' fees of old feoffment in Norfolk under William,
Earl of Arundel. How are we to account for this transfer of
a whole family across England, from Norfolk to Shropshire ?
Evidently it was owing to the necessities of the King. The le
Stranges were not the only family dealt with in this way. Alan
fitz Flaald, ancestor of the fitz Alans, and, like Roland le Strange,
of Breton or Angevin origin, had received a grant of the Honour
of Mileham in Norfolk before September noi. 1 After the for-
feiture of the estates of Robert de Belleme, Earl of Shrewsbury,
in 1 102, Henry I invested Alan fitz Flaald with the Honour of
Warin, Sheriff of Shropshire, which not only included lands in
that county, but also in those of Stafford, Warwick, and Sussex. 2
Clearly Henry II pursued the policy, initiated by his grand-

1 Eyton, vii. 217. Eyton, vii. 220.

24 LE STRANGE RECORDS

father, of supplanting the Domesday nobility, and strengthening
his hold of the sceptre, by importing from his foreign province
of Anjou new and able leaders attached to his own person. Along
the Welsh border it was especially necessary for him to have
loyal and trusty vassals, and here, consequently, he planted the
fitz Alans and le Stranges, and other families of Breton or Angevin
origin, to uphold the interests of his Crown during his frequent
and prolonged absences on the Continent. Next to the fitz
Alans the le Stranges became perhaps the most important family
in the middle part of the Welsh March, and Eyton pays a tribute
to their ability and loyalty which I cannot refrain from quoting.
He says :

As a race they were distinguished for their abilities in field and Council. They
were distinguished yet more for the most steadfast loyalty. The feoffments of
John, Guy, and Hamo le Strange by Henry Fitz-Empress and William Fitz Alan
(I) were tributes to men of ascertained ability. For three long-lived and succes-
sive generations the Heads of this House were indefinitely trusted by contem-
porary Kings. For the same period no le Strange ever betrayed such trust, or
was suspected of betraying it. 1

This is a record of which any family may well be proud.

The first of the four brothers to receive lands in Shrop-
shire was, apparently, the second son, Hamon. The Testa de
Nevill or Liber Feodorum, containing returns of those who held
of the king in capite from Richard I to Edward I, supplies
the earliest evidence that this Shropshire grant was made in
the reign of Henry II ; the entry reads :

Johannes Extraneus tenet maneria de Nesse et de Chesewortham de dono regis
Henrici patris domini regis Johannis, et debet servicium unius militis, que sclent
reddere ad scaccarium xi lib. xs. 2

Further proof of this feoffment, as far as regards Cheswar-
dine, is afforded by an abstract of a charter, preserved in the Plea
Rolls, 8 from which it appears that Henry II before he came to
the throne had given to Hamon land worth 7 in Wellington,
Salop, which, for some reason that is not apparent, the King

1 Eyton, x. 261. * Testa de Nevill, p. 56.

8 Coram rege Rolls, 21 Edw. I, 36, dorse.

JOHN LE STRANGE (I) 25

subsequently resumed, giving him in exchange the manor of
Cheswardine, worth only 4, to be held by the service of half a
knight's fee. This abstract is printed by Eyton, but is so
important, as proving the earliest feoffment of a le Strange in
Shropshire, that it is worth transcribing here :

Henricus, rex Anglic, et dux Normannie et Aquitanie, et comes Andegavie,
&c. Sciatis me dedisse Hamoni Extraneo Chedewordam cum pertinenciis, que
reddebat iv libras tempore regis Henrici avi mei, in excambium vii libratarum
terre quas dederam [eidem Hamoni] de dominio meo de Wellintona priusquam
rex essem ; ad tenendum ipsi et heredibus suis de me et heredibus meis, in feodo
et hereditate per servicium dimidii feodi militis.

John le Strange (I) lived through the whole of the troublous
reign of Stephen (1135-54), an d during the first twenty-four years
of the reign of Henry II. In Hunstanton he inherited two distinct
manors, one from his father Roland, and another through his
mother Matilda. He must have succeeded his father towards the
close of the reign of Henry I, as his name appears as a witness
to a grant by William fitz Alan and his wife Christiana of land
in Sheriff Hales to Haughmond Church. Eyton 1 shows cause
for believing that this deed belongs to the period before 1138,
since in that year fitz Alan was exiled from Shropshire and
deprived of his estates. At that period John le Strange held
no fiefs in Shropshire ; the large possessions which the family
subsequently possessed in that county all date from the reign of
Henry II, or shortly before it, a reward doubtless for their services
to the Empress Matilda and her son during the usurpation of
Stephen. The Breton (or Angevin) connection of the family is
emphasised by their loyalty to the house of Anjou ; hence the
Cheswardine grant by Henry before 1154, and the subsequent
solid establishment of the family in Shropshire.

Professor Tout has drawn my attention to the fact that the
early stages of family history often illustrate important historical
points. The present instance brings out two points : (a) Henry Fs
' new men' brought from his own personal possessions beyond
sea ; and (b) Henry IFs continuation of his ' amice consue-
tudines* as shown by his settling his father's friends in the Welsh

1 vii. 286, n.

26 LE STRANGE RECORDS

March, where a loyal nobility was so particularly necessary. It
is further worthy of note that all the great families of the Welsh
March were also well established in some other part of England ;
the Montgomeries in Sussex, the fitz Alans also afterwards in
Sussex, the Bohuns were Earls of Essex as well as of Hereford,
the Warrenes in Surrey and Yorkshire. The Mortimers alone
were mainly Marcher, but had some lands elsewhere. The poli-
tical and military importance of all these rests on their Marcher
estates, and so also was it with the le Stranges ; in Norfolk they
were comfortable barons, of local importance mainly ; in the
March they could play a considerable military and political part.
Many of the great movements of mediaeval history began in
the March, and were started by Marcher barons.

No mention of John le Strange during the nineteen years
of Stephen's reign has come down to us. The first instance to
which a precise date can be attached is the charter, in the Salop
Chartulary, by which William fitz Alan, on the day of his restora-
tion to his lands, viz. on July 25, 1155, granted the patronage
of the church of Wroxeter to his own foundation of Haughmond
Abbey. Not only was this donation witnessed by John le Strange,
but about twenty years later he executed a curious certificate,
preserved in the Haughmond Chartulary at Sundorn, notifying
his remembrance of the original grant. 1

Between the years 1155 and 1160 John's name occurs many
times as a witness to charters, mostly those of fitz Alan. John
and his brother Wido (Guy) attested a grant of fitz Alan's
to the monks of Shrewsbury, which was included in Henry IFs
confirmation of 1155. 2 A confirmation by William fitz Alan
of a grant by Gilbert de Hadnall to Haughmond of 1155-58 is
tested by ' Johanne Straunge cum duobus fratribus ejus, Wydone et
Hamone* 3 John and Wido were the two first witnesses to William
fitz Alan's grant of land in Downton to the same abbey ; 4 and
the same two le Stranges similarly attested fitz Alan's confirma-
tion of their brother Hamo's grant of Naginton to Haughmond. 6

1 Eyton, i. 73 n., 251 ; vii. 312. * Ibid. vii. 236.

* Ibid. x. 45. * Ibid. vii. 275. * Ibid. viii. 8.

Plate V.

HENRY II. to Guv LE STRANGE.
Grant of ALVELEY.

To face page 2/

JOHN LE STRANGE (I) 27

All these charters passed during the period between 1155 and 1160,
and many similar instances might be given.

We now come to the period in which evidence as to the
successive enfeoffments of the family is derived from public
documents preserved at the Record Office : the earliest that have
survived are known as the Pipe Rolls. These invaluable records
contain the annual accounts current of the King with the Sheriff
of each county, whose duty it was to collect the taxes paid by
the tenants in capite, in the shape of fines, reliefs, the farm of
the county, and other payments due to the Crown ; while the
disbursements include sums paid by the Sheriff for repairs to
the King's castles, the purchase of ammunition and necessaries,
and special items expressly ordered by the King's writ. Many
of these Rolls have been printed and edited ; a few of the earlier
ones were printed by the Record Commission, and those before
1 200 are now in course of publication by the Pipe Roll Society.

The Pipe Roll for the first year of Henry II is lost ; the earliest
entry relating to a le Strange is as follows :

2 Hen. II. [A.D. 1155].

SALOPESCIRA. Willelmus films Alani reddit compotum de firma de . . .
In terris datis . . . Widoni Extraneo C. et x. s .

The ' terra data ' were lands granted by the King to private
individuals out of the royal domain in the county ; and, as the
profits of such lands were no longer received by the Sheriff, he was
allowed for them when rendering his account at the Exchequer.
The above entry, therefore, shows that, in or before 1155, Guy le
Strange had had a grant from the King of some manor worth
5 ios., allowance for which was made to the Sheriff, William
fitz Alan. A similar entry appears in the Rolls for 1156 and 1157.
The name of the manor held by Guy does not appear in the Pipe
Roll, but, fortunately, the original grant itself, showing that it
was the manor of Alveley in Shropshire, has survived, and is
preserved in the British Museum ; 1 as will be seen from the photo-
graph opposite it is beautifully written in bold letters, and still
has attached to it a considerable portion of the great seal of green

1 Cart. Cotton, xi. 14.

28 LE STRANGE RECORDS

wax, showing on the obverse the King seated, holding in his left
hand an orb, surmounted by a dove on a cross, while on the reverse
is the King on horseback, armed with sword and shield, and
wearing a conical helmet. An English translation of this impor-
tant charter has been given by Eyton, 1 but the original has not,
I believe, been printed before, so I give an extended version which
may be collated with the photograph :

Henricus Rex Anglie et Dux Normannie et Aquitanie et Comes Andegavie.
Episcopo Cestrensi et Justiciariis et Baronibus et Vicecomitibus et ministris et
omnibus fidelibus suis de Salopescyra Salutem. Sciatis me dedisse Widoni
Extraneo in feodo et hereditate Aluinelegham que solebat mihi reddere in firma
mea. c. et x. solidos. Quare volo et nrmiter precipio quod ipse et heredes sui
eandem terrain teneant cum omnibus pertinentiis suis de me et de heredibus meis
bene et in pace libere et quiete et honorifice per seruicium dimidii militis. Testibus
Waltero Episcopo Cestrensi. Ricardo de Humez, Conestabulario. Manasse Biset
Dapifero. Ricardo de Luci. Ricardo de Campvilla. H. de Oilli Conestabulario.
Apud Notingeham.

Eyton shows 2 that the King was at Nottingham about Feb-
ruary 1155, which gives us the approximate date of the charter.

The same Rolls for the 2, 3, and 4 Hen. II contain similar
entries with regard to Hamo Extraneus, showing that among
the 'terra data* he held lands worth 4. That the land thus
held by Hamo was the manor of Cheswardine has been shown by
the entry in the Plea Rolls, quoted above. 3

As Hamo only survived for about three years, it is as well to
set down here what other mention there is of him. In conjunction
with his eldest brother John he witnessed the deed of Roger Powis,
attesting William fitz Alan's reinstatement in his Shropshire
estates on July 25, 1155, and the latter's donation of Wroxeter
church to the canons of Haughmond. 4 Between 1155 and 1158
William fitz Alan (I) confirmed a grant made by Gilbert de
Hadnall to Haughmond Abbey, and this confirmation is attested
by ' Johanne Straunge, cum duobus fratribus ejus, Wydone et
Hamone.' 5

Besides Ness and Cheswardine, which he held in chief, Hamo

1 iii. 122. * Itinerary of Hen. II, p. 6. ' Supra, p. 25.

Collect. Top. et Gen. v. 176 ; Chartulary of Haughmond, fo. 236-7.
6 Haughmond Chartulary, quoted by Eyton, x. 45.

JOHN LE STRANGE (I) 29

possessed as mesne tenant at least three other manors in Shrop-
shire, Little or Childs' Ercall, Betton Strange, and Osbaston with
Kynaston. Eyton supposes that William fitz Alan, on his
restoration to his Shropshire estates in 1155, enfeoffed Hamo in
the manor of Little Ercall ; x at all events after the death of Hamo,
fitz Alan confirmed a grant of a member thereof called Nagington,
made by Hamo to Haughmond Abbey ; this confirmation, witnessed
by John and Guy le Strange, is printed in full by Eyton. 2 An
inquest held in the year 1200 also proves Hamo's possession of the
manor of Little Ercall. An Assize of the Curia Regis was held
in the quinzaine after Easter in the ist of John to ascertain whether
Hamon, the uncle of John le Strange, was seised in his demesne as
of fee of the fourth part of a knight's fee in ' Arkelaw ' on the
day of his death, and whether the said John was his heir ; which
land was then held by Fulk de Oirri and Matilda his wife ; the
jury found that Hamon was in seisin thereof, and that John
was his heir. 3

It may be well to set down here that a knight's fee denoted
so much land of inheritance as was roughly sufficient to maintain
a knight with suitable retinue, which, in the time of Henry III,
was often reckoned at about 15 per annum ; as money was then
worth about forty-five times its then value, a knight's fee would
be the equivalent of an annual income of 675 in the twen-
tieth century. The value of knights' fees varied, however, within
wide limits. There are many cases in which grantees of land were
treated with special liberality by the Crown. It is safest, therefore,
to call a knight's fee the amount of land held by the service of
finding a fully equipped knight to serve in the lord's wars. The
subject is too complex to summarise in a paragraph. Briefly, it
may be considered as the amount of land, whatever it was, that
paid as rent a knight's service.

The evidence as to the manor of Betton is not very clear ;
apparently Hamo was a tenant of the abbot of Shrewsbury in
respect of a part of the manor. It appears that, shortly before
his death, in making a final disposition of his property, Hamo

1 Eyton, viii. 8. Ibid. 9 ; and Haughmond Chartulary, fo. 148.

8 Rot. Cur. Reg. ii. 187, m. 6.

30 LE STRANGE RECORDS

gave a strip of land, called Bulerugge, in Betton, to Haughmond
Abbey, in order that the canons might possess both sides of a
mill-stank on Condover brook. Eyton 1 believes that ' Hamo le
Strange was able to make this grant as Lord of Betton Strange
by feoffment of the monks of Shrewsbury, who had alienated to
him that part of the manor, which was thenceforth called Betton
Strange in distinction from Abbot's Betton the part which the
monks retained.'

Osbaston and Kynaston, originally two distinct manors,
were united at Domesday, but separated later on when they came
to the fitz Alans. Osbaston included the territory afterwards
called Knockin, and had been given by the fitz Alans to the
Haughtons, by whom it was alienated about the time of the
accession of Henry II to Hamo le Strange. The descent of the
manor is best given in the words of Eyton :

The said Hamo died within five years after Henry II became King, and.
leaving no lawful issue, his eldest surviving brother, John, became his heir-at-law.
However, by some arrangement, before or soon after Hamo le Strange's death,
Osbaston passed to the second brother, Guy le Strange, and Guy is said by tradi-
tion to have founded Knockin Castle. Thus I understand the site of Knockin
Castle to have been originally in the manor of Osbaston ; but a castle, wherever
founded, naturally became the caput of the manor which included it ; so that,
thenceforth, we hear little of Osbaston, but much of Knockin. 2

Hamo le Strange must have died without issue before Michael-
mas 1160, as we shall see below that, in the Pipe Roll for the sixth
year of Henry II, his elder brother John appears for the first time
as tenant in capite of the manor of Ches war dine in the place of
Hamo. 3

John's name appears for the first time in that Roll for the
year 1158, the entry being as follows :

4 Hen. II [Xmas. 1158].

SALOPESCIRA. Willelmus films Alani reddit compotum de . . . in terris datis
Johanni Extraneo vij ii et x s de prestito Regis per breve Regis.

Prastitum, or imprest, was an advance of money out of the
Exchequer, for which the Sheriff had to render account ; e.g. for
prepayments towards expenses of carrying on the King's service.

1 ii. 174, 183. * Eyton, x. 366. * Eyton, x. 366.

JOHN LE STRANGE (I) 31

The expression seems to be sometimes used as implying a grant
of a temporary nature.

Here again it will be noticed that the name of the manor worth
7 los. is not given in the Roll, nor is it entered in that for 1159,
but the omission is supplied in the following year ; it was, as we
have seen, 1 the manor of Ness. This was the last account of
William fitz Alan (I) ; it was passed at Michaelmas 1159, and
he died about six months afterwards, being succeeded in the
shrievalty of Shropshire by Guy le Strange of Alveley. It is
interesting to find that John and Guy le Strange were among
the personages assembled round the death-bed of their illustrious
comrade in arms ; a deed in the Salop Chartulary, 2 whereby he
gave certain lands, together with his body, to Shrewsbury Abbey,
is tested by four ecclesiastics and twelve well-known laymen,
the two brothers heading the list of these last. 1

Great Ness, the Shropshire fief conferred by Henry II on
John le Strange, lies eight miles to the north-west of Shrewsbury,
a little to the north of the road to Oswestry, which is overlooked
by the red sandstone rocks of Ness cliff. The stronghold still
exhibits considerable, but not very perfect remains of ancient
earthworks, which, owing to their being overgrown with under-
wood, are not very easy to trace. It occupies the highest part of
a short rocky range, 500 feet above sea-level, and 200 to 250 feet
above the surrounding country, except on the north-east, where the
high land continues. The entrenchments appear to have consisted
of one ditch and two ramparts, cutting off the extreme north-west
corner to the edge of the hill, and there are remains of outer en-
trenchments on the south-east, but no trace exists of the defences,
which must have once enclosed the northern side. 8 The position
thus commands the direct road from Shrewsbury to North Wales,
while it lies only two miles above Shrawardine, an important ford
on the Severn, where a castle of the fitz Alans had been built
to check forays from the direction of mid- Wales. The fief had
originally been given by Henry to Cadwallader, brother of Owen
Gwynedd, Prince of North Wales from 1137 to 1169. Cadwal-

1 Supra, 24. a No. 285. See Eyton, vii. 237.

8 Survey by E. A. Downman in B.M. Add. MSS. 37678.

32 LE STRANGE RECORDS

lader, who was married to a sister of Gilbert, Earl of Clare,
having quarrelled with his brother and been deprived of his
lands in Wales, had taken refuge in England; the King made
use of him when he invaded Wales, and the Shropshire Pipe
Rolls show that in 1156 and 1157 the Welsh prince enjoyed
possession of the manor of Ness. The campaign ended in a paci-
fication with Owen Gwynedd, who restored his brother again
to favour and the possession of his lands in Wales ; there was,
consequently, no longer any necessity for Cadwallader to accept
the bounty of the English king, who resumed possession of Ness,
and in the Pipe Roll for 1158 Cadwallader 's name disappears,
and in place thereof we have the following entry: ' Johanni
Extmneo vij li. X s prestito Regis per breve Regis' A fuller entry
two years later runs : 'Johanni Extraneo vij li. X s de prestito
Regis in Nesse. Et eidem iv. li. in Chesewarda.' Compare ' Testa de
Nevill/ quoted above, 1 which shows this valuation long continued.
This means, as we have seen, that John had succeeded to Ches-
wardine in 1160 as heir to his brother Hamo. The returns of
fiefs made in 1166, and put together during the reign of King
John in the Liber Niger of the Exchequer, the earliest extant
Feodary compiled for the use of the collectors of the King's Aids,
shows that John held Ness by the service of one knight's fee,
while Cheswardine constituted a half fee. Later, the two seem
to have been only valued at one knight's fee, 2 but in the thirteenth
century it was in most cases found impossible to exact the full
service owed. 3

It was after midsummer 1160 that John made the grant to
Castleacre, quoted in the last chapter, 4 in which he mentions
his father Roland and his mother Matilda, and speaks of his
brother Hamo as dead.

During the years 1155-60 large additions were made to the
lands acquired by John le Strange, nearly if not quite all of them
by subinfeudation from William fitz Alan (I). The Liber Niger
shows that John had acquired before 1166, and was then holding
two knights' fees in the barony of fitz Alan, though there is

i Supra, 24. * Testa de Nevill, p. 56.

8 See Morris, Welsh Wars of Edw. I, 46-48, on the quota of service. * Supra, 5.

JOHN LE STRANGE (I) 33

no evidence to show the exact dates at which they were given.
These lands, which are often spoken of in contemporary docu-
ments as knights' fees of the new feoffment i.e. made since the
death of Henry I comprised the following Shropshire manors :
Middle, 1 which, as we shall see, was afterwards castellated ;
Ruyton-of-the-eleven-towns ; 2 Wykey, now part of Ruyton,
but at that time independent ; 3 Moreton ; 4 Maesbrook ; 5 Mel-
verley ; 6 Acton-Scott ; 7 Abdon ; 8 Berrington ; 9 Glazeley ; 10
and Longnor. 11

The Pipe Roll for n Hen. II (1165), in addition to the usual
entry respecting John le Strange as to Ness and Ches war dine,
contains the following :

et Johanni Extraneo iiij ii et ii* et vjd in Alwelt. 12

Like the other entries for the n Hen. II the payments are for
three-quarters of a year only, as there had been a new Sheriff
recently appointed ; but I am at a loss to identify ' Alwelt ' ;
it can hardly be Alveley, as that manor had been granted to Guy
le Strange, yet I know not what other place it can be. The entry
does not recur in any of the succeeding years.

On the death of William fitz Alan (I), about Easter 1160
Guy le Strange had been appointed to succeed him as Sheriff of
Shropshire, and further had the valuable and important custody
of his barony during the long minority of his son. 13 Guy held
the shrievalty until 1165, when the Pipe Rolls show that the
office was transferred to Geoffrey de Vere, probably because he
had married Isabel de Say, widow of William fitz Alan, who
had carried to her new husband, as her dower, nearly a third of
the fitz Alan estates. On the death of de Vere in 1170 Guy
le Strange was reinstated in the shrievalty, and continued to
hold it for the rest of his life.

In the Red Book of the Exchequer 14 John le Strange is returned
as in debt to the Crown for the whole period, 1165-71, the result,

1 Eyton, x. 65-66. * Ibid. 113. s Ibid. xi. 23.

4 Ibid. x. 364. 8 Ibid. x. 377. ' Ibid. x. 377.

7 Ibid. xi. 375-6. 8 Ibid. iv. 128. * Ibid. vi. 34.

10 Ibid. i. 211. u Ibid. vi. 49. " Pipe Roll Soc.. viii. 89-90.

" Eyton, iii. 126. M ii. cxx. (Rolls Series).

34 LE STRANGE RECORDS

no doubt, of his having to pay the expenses of border garri-
sons on the Welsh March. The names of the two brothers, John
and Guy, constantly appear in the Sheriff's accounts associated
together, and there are entries of sums being remitted to them
by the King, and of gifts of money being made to them as a
reward for their services. Thus in the Pipe Roll of 14 Hen. II
(1168) for Norfolk and Suffolk we have :

In perdona per breve Regis Johanni et Widoni Extraneis xl* et quietum est.

And in the same year they have pardon for 2os., 20$., and i6s. Sd.
in Norfolk, 1 as well as an allowance in the Shropshire account
of 70 out of the lands of William fitz Alan (II), then in the
custody of Guy. 2 From the Staffordshire Pipe Roll for the
following year, 1169, it appears that the King had granted to
John le Strange out of the farm of Trentham pasture worth
8s. 8d. a year. 3 In 1171 the Sheriff of Staffordshire accounts to
Guy and John for 20 spent by them in payment to men serving
in the Welsh Marches.

In estimating the value of the above grants and expenses, it
must be borne in mind that the purchasing power of money in
the twelfth century was at least forty-five times as much as it is
at the beginning of the twentieth i.e. one shilling then would
be the equivalent of 2 55. now, and one penny of 35. gd.

Advancing years, and the piety or superstition of the age,
had the usual effect of inducing the owner of numerous fiefs to
make liberal eleemosynary grants. Two made by John le Strange
out of his Norfolk inheritance have already been mentioned, viz.
his grant of six acres of land at Litcham to the monks of Castle-
acre, 4 and that of his maternal fief of Edgefield to Binham Priory. 5
His donations in Shropshire were nearly, if not quite all of them,
made to the Augustinian Abbey of Haughmond, three miles east
of Shrewsbury, which had been founded and endowed by his great
friend, William fitz Alan (I). Before the year 1172 John had
made three grants to that abbey viz. (i) the advowson of the
church of Cheswardine, of which Eyton has printed the original

1 Pipe Roll Soc., xii. 19. * Ibid. xii. 124. * Ibid. xiii. 68.

4 Supra, i. p. 5. * Supra, i. p. n.

JOHN LE STRANGE (I) 35

grant from the Haughmond Chartulary ; * (2) the mill of Middle ; *
and (3) the mill of Ruyton ; 3 these three grants were all included
in a Bull of Confirmation by Pope Alexander III, dated May 14,
1172. The Haughmond Chartulary, quoted by Eyton, 4 records
that the advowson of the church of St. Mary at Hunstanton was
also given to the same Shropshire Abbey, the grant being attested
by the abbots of Wigmore and Buildwas, and by John le Strange,
a canon ; it was confirmed by Henry II, along with many other
grants, in a charter passed by that king at Shrewsbury towards
the close of the year ii76. 5 Eyton cites a deed 6 made by William
fitz Alan (II) on his coming of age, which is particularly useful
as establishing the relationship of several le Stranges at this
period, inasmuch as it is tested by no less than five members of
the family ; it is a grant to Buildwas Abbey, of about 1175,
confirming a previous donation made by the grantor's father ;
among the witnesses are John le Strange and John his son ; Wido
le Strange and Wido and Hamo his sons. A fine seal, with the effigy
of a knight on horseback, of which Eyton gives an engraving, is
attached to this document. 7

The last eleemosynary grant of John le Strange which has
come down to us is one giving half a virgate in Webscott, a member
of the manor of Middle, to Haughmond Abbey. 8 It is of especial
importance, as being the only one in which he mentions the name
of his wife. The offering is stated to be for the soul of Hawise,
the grantor's wife ; it was attested by William son of William
fitz Alan, Guy my brother, Ralph his son, Hugh le Strange and
others. Eyton writes 9 :

It is probable that it was made on the death of his said wife, which will have
shortly preceded his own death. The latter event took place in 1177-78. At
Michaelmas 1178 Guy le Strange, Sheriff of Shropshire, had in hand the reputed
issues of Ness and Cheswardine, obviously because his brother's son had not
obtained livery, but before Michaelmas 1179 he had handed over the sum to
' John son of John le Strange.'

1 Eyton, x. 29, fo. 43 of Chartulary. * Ibid. x. 66. * Ibid. x. 113.

* Ibid. x. 266, fo. 121 of Chartulary. 5 Harl. MSS. 2188, fo. 123.

8 Eyton, vii. 245. 7 Harl. Charter 50, A, 2.

8 Original deed at Trentham, and Lilleshall Chartulary, ff. 55 and 93.

9 Eyton, x. 266.

D 2

36 LE STRANGE RECORDS

The following entries in the Red Book of the Exchequer relate
to John le Strange's Norfolk fiefs ; they are from the Norfolk
Inquisitions for scutage of 1166-70, and must belong to the year
1 1 66, as the King embarked at Southampton for Normandy in
March of that year, and did not return for four years :

Hsec est inquisitio de manerio Comitis Arundeliae in Snetesham, s[cilicet] quod,
homines sui dederunt postquam dominus noster Rex Angloram extreme trans-
fretavit in Normanniam, quando Comes perexit ad servandas les Marches de
Wales pluribus vicibus . . . 1

Postquam dominus Rex transfretavit, dederunt homines Johannis Extranei de
Hunestanestunia et de Ringstadia Ixf Comiti Arundeliae de feodo trium militum. 2

Veredictum hominum de Mileham. Quando villa cecidit in custodia Johannis
Extranei et Radulphi f ratris sui non fuerunt in praedicta villa praeter xvj Caracas,
et nunc, testimonio eorum, sunt in villa xxviij. Super hoc dicunt homines villas
quod de hominibus de novo feodatis et de boscho, et aliis rebus in custodia
Johannis Extranei et Radulphi f ratris ejus villa emendata est plusquam xl marcis
argenti. Hoc [autem] testificant omnes homines villae super sacramentum suum.
Super hoc dicunt homines ejusdem villae dederunt domino suo Johanni Extraneo
jx libras de auxilio, gratis, in uno anno, et in altero anno xlv s gratis. 3

Veredictum militum Johannis Extranei de donis suis quae dederunt domino suo
Johanni, postquam dominus Rex novissime transfretavit in Normanniam. Her-
bertus xxx solidos. [Brien Canis] iij marcas et dimidiam. Willelmus de Pagrave
dedit Gaufredo de Ver i m. ad exercitum de Sparle. 4

GUY LE STRANGE, OF ALVELEY.

I have already had frequent occasion to mention Guy (Eudo
or Wido), the third son of Roland and Matilda le Strange, as
associated with his brothers in attesting charters, as having been
enfeoffed by the King, in or before 1155, in the manor of Alveley,
as having inherited the manor of Osbaston from his brother
Hamo in 1160, and as having been appointed Sheriff of Shrop-
shire on the death of William fitz Alan (I), of whose son and his
extensive estates he had the wardship and custody. In this latter
capacity Guy was Gustos or Warden of Oswestry, which belonged
to the fitz Alans, the most advanced post on the north-west front
of the Welsh March, and during the many and prolonged absences
of the King at his continental possessions was responsible for the

1 Rolls Series gg, vol. ii. p. cclxvii. * Ibid. p. cclxix.

8 Ibid. p. cclxxix., No. 51. * Ibid. p. cclxxx., No. 56.

JOHN LE STRANGE (I) 37

peace and safety of that debatable land. In September 1165
we find Guy charging the Crown with ' 103 sol: et yd. in liberatione
cc. servientium apud Blancmoster (Oswestry) ' ; these were stipen-
diary soldiers, probably from Henry's continental possessions ; *
as Sheriff, Guy was usually keeper of the two royal castles of
Bridgnorth and Shrewsbury, and had to maintain them for their
threefold use as garrison, prison, and royal residence. The Liber
Niger shows that Guy held Alveley by service of half a knight.
He had a further tenure of half a knight's fee of new feoffment
granted to him by William fitz Alan (I) at Stretton-upon-Avon
in Warwickshire.

An undated charter in the British Museum 2 shows that R.,
abbot of Haughmond, confirmed to Peter le Strange the mill of
Stretton-upon-Avon on the same tenure as his father Hamo le
Strange held it from the abbot's predecessor Alured, viz. 20S.
annual rent. It is attested by William le Strange. Hamon, one
of the sons of Guy of Alveley, died v.p. (i.e. in or before 1179),
and Guy was succeeded by his daughters as co-heiresses ; conse-
quently Peter, if the son of Hamon, must also have died in his
grandfather's lifetime.

In 1165 Henry unsuccessfully invaded Wales with a large
army, and barbarously hanged certain hostages who had been
placed in his hands ; the charges for the maintenance of these
hostages are entered in Guy's account as Sheriff for the quarter
ending at Christmas 1164, and his successor in office, Geoffrey de
Vere, charged for them up to about April 1165, after which time
no further mention is made of these unfortunate men.

The Shropshire Pipe Roll, 18 Hen. II, has an entry made by
Guy le Strange as Sheriff, wherein he renders his account for 400
hogs sent to Ireland, 31 155. zd., 60 axes, and los. 6d. by the
King's writ. These supplies were for Henry's invasion of Ireland
in October 1171.

In the year 1173 the King's eldest son Henry who, after his
coronation on June 14, 1170, was styled by chroniclers ' the young
King,' and often Henry III, having rebelled with his brother

1 Liber Niger, 144, 147. B.M. III., C. 29.

38 LE STRANGE RECORDS

Geoffrey and Richard against their father, were compelled to flee
to the Court of the King of France ; their cause had been espoused
by Robert de Beaumont, Earl of Leicester, amongst others, and
Guy le Strange had to victual and defend the castles of Bridg-
north and Shrewsbury ; he had the King's warrant of 42 for
livery of ten knights, who were to be with him for this purpose.
The Earl of Leicester was captured on October 16, and the rebellion
was crushed. Guy had raised a considerable contingent on behalf
of the Crown for what he describes in his accounts as the ' army
of Leicester,' * and he served personally in the summer of 1173 at
the storming and capture of the town of Leicester. 2 The King
afterwards made a progress through the lately disturbed counties
in order to exact fines by way of punishment from those who had
been guilty of rebellion or trespass ' Assiza super terras eorum
qui recesserunt.' Guy's personal attendance on the King is proved
by his having attested a royal charter dated at Bridgnorth, c.
January Hj6, 3 and another at Shrewsbury about the same time. 4
His trust as Custos of the Honour of fitz Alan had come to an end,
as is shown by his accounts as Sheriff, rendered at Michaelmas 1175 ;
he had received the issues for only three-quarters of the pre-
ceding year, so the heir, William fitz Alan (II), must have come
of age about midsummer. 5

Guy le Strange appears to have played a very useful part as
a faithful official in serving Henry II in his great need during
the feudal revolt of 1173-4, the most formidable opposition in
England which the King ever had to face. Guy had ceased to be
Sheriff of Shropshire about Christmas 1164, but was reappointed
at Michaelmas 1170, as one of the trustworthy royal servants put
in office after the ' Inquest of Sheriffs ' of 1170 had revealed the
faithlessness of many of the ' baronial Sheriffs, and had brought
about their removal.' 6 As some requital for these services Guy
received from the King a grant of the manor of Weston-under-Red-
castle, Warwickshire, worth loos, a year, to be held with Alveley

1 Pipe Roll, 19 Hen. II. Eyton, i. 263.

3 Monasticon, v. 73, note 3 ; Eyton's Itinerary of Hen. II., p. 198.
1 Haughmond Chartulary at Sundorne Castle. 6 Eyton iii. 127.

P.R.O. List of Sheriffs, p. 117.

JOHN LE STRANGE (I) 39

by the service of half a knight's fee each : an enrolment of the royal
charter passed on this occasion is preserved at the Record Office. 1

The last public occasion at which Eyton can find mention of
the presence of Guy le Strange was at the Great Court and Council
which was held by Henry II at Northampton in January 1177,
at which the whole of England was divided, for judicial purposes,
into six districts, nearly corresponding with the judges' circuits
of the present day ; Guy's presence is shown by his attesta-
tion of a general charter of confirmation, expedited there by the
King, to Thomas Noel, who had married Guy's eldest daughter
Margaret. 2 Guy attested many other charters at various times,
mostly in conjunction with his brother John. Like that brother
he made giants to Haughmond Abbey. Eyton mentions two. 8
' The first, in which his wife Mary joined, was of his mill at Stretton -
upon- A von, and also of his mill at Alveley ' ; among the witnesses
are : ' Willhelmus filius Willhelmi filii Alani, Johannes Extraneus,
et Johannes et Hamo filii ejus, Adam filius Hamonis Extranei ' ;
this was confirmed by Pope Alexander in his Bull of May 14, 1172,
cited on p. 35.* The other grant was of the mill of Osbaston,
near Knockin. Mr. John Higginson, M.R.C.V.S., of The Hollies,
Knockin, who has allowed me to see a MS. history of that parish
which he has compiled, states that this mill was situated on
Morton brook, and that some remains of it can still be traced
where the bridge now stands.

An undated charter in the Castleacre Register (fo. 90), con-
cerning an ' exchange between the monasteries of Castleacre and
Westacre, is witnessed by Eudone Extraneo ' and ' Rogero filio suo ' ,
if this be Guy of Alveley, it records a son of his unknown to Eyton, 5
and Roger ,like his brothers Guy and Hamo, must have died during
his father's lifetime. Another charter, quoted by Carthew from
the same folio of the Castleacre Register, is tested by ' Domino
Rogero Extraneo.'

The following entry in the Pipe Rolls of 24 Hen. II (1178-9)
refers to Guy of Alveley :

1 Cartae Antiquae, Roll EE, No. 13. Dodsworth's MSS. vol. 130, fo. 1196.

8 Eyton, iii. 128. Haughmond Chartulary, fo. 6, and Harl. MSS. 3868, fo. u.
5 Carthew, i. 129.

40 LE STRANGE RECORDS

Guido Extraneus reddit compotum de vij 1. de veteri firma tertii anni que
reman serunt super terram que fuit lone de Powis . . . et Guidoni Extraneo
c. et X s in Aluedelea. 1

Guy did not long survive his elder brother John, with whom
he had been so closely associated through life ; John, as we have
seen, died before Michaelmas 1178, and Guy must have followed
him in little more than a year. Eyton shows 2 that Guy's last
account as Sheriff was rendered at Michaelmas 1179, and that
at the date of the next account the manor of Alveley had been
' in manu Regis ' for the preceding fiscal year, till livery should be
given to the heir ; this did not take place until Michaelmas 1182.
The Pipe Roll of the next year shows that the Sheriff, in account-
ing for ' terris datis' in Alveley, had paid nos. to Ralph son
of Guy le Strange. 3 Eyton thinks 4 that Mary, widow of Guy,
cannot have been the mother of all his children, as she had two
other husbands before she married Guy, and was still living in
1186, being then only forty years of age. Part of her dower was
derived from North Runcton in Norfolk, which she held of the
fief of Warren of Wormegay : this must have been from one of
her previous husbands, as Guy le Strange held no lands there in
n65. 5 Mention has already been made of three, if not four, sons
of Guy, who have appeared as attesting witnesses, viz. Ralph,
Guy, Hamon, and perhaps Roger. The following entry in the
Pipe Roll of 23 Hen. II (1177) probably refers to Hamon son of
Guy of Alveley : 6

Hamo Extraneus reddit compotum de v. marcis quia non habuit quern plegiavit.

Guy and Hamon must have died two or three years before their
father, though we have seen that they were living and attested
fitz Alan's grant to Buildwas, c. 1175. Besides these sons Guy
le Strange left three daughters, Margaret, Joan or Juliana, and
Matilda, who eventually became co-heiresses to their brother
Ralph.

For some unexplained reason Ralph was obliged to pay to

1 Pipe Roll Soc. xxvii. p. 83. * iii. 128.

8 Rot. Pip. 28 Hen. II, Salop. * iii. 129.

6 Liber Niger, p. 288. * Pipe Roll Soc. xxvi. 32.

JOHN LE STRANGE (I) 41

the King a fine of 15 marks, accounted for by the Sheriff in 1190. 1
During his short life he can hardly have been more than thirty-
four at his death he followed the example of his father in making
charitable donations. For the relief of poor wayfarers he founded
the Hospital of the Holy Trinity at Bridgnorth, placed close to
the bridge over the Severn, by which all travellers from the east-
ward must approach, and he endowed it with 3^ virgates of land
in Alveley. 2 His memory as founder was annually commemorated
for more than 300 years, for the Valor Ecclesiasticus of 1535 records
that, on the anniversary of Ralph le Strange as founder of this
hospital, the abbot distributed a sum of i6s. Sd. to the poor. In
the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery is preserved the latten
matrix, with plain handle on the back pierced with a hole, of a
round seal 2J- inches in diameter, belonging to this hospital ;
it is of early thirteenth-century date, having for device a seated
representation of the Holy Trinity, with panelled sideshafts
but no canopy; it bears the legend : 'S. Henricus: ffranceys:
magister : ospitalis : t : sanct : Sea (?) : trinitatis : de : bregenorth.' 3
The Haughmond Chartulary shows that Ralph gave the right of
patronage of the chapel of Knockin, which had probably been
founded by him, to the abbey of Haughmond. The grant is
witnessed by William fitz Alan, John le Strange, and William
le Strange. Some remains of Ralph le Strange's chapel are still
to be seen in the present church. Mr. D. H. S. Cranage, in his
* Churches of Shropshire/ 4 says :

Seeing a fair amount of late Norman work in the present building, we may fairly
conclude that the original building remains to some extent. The chapel con-
sisted of at least chancel, nave, and north aisle of 4 bays. . . . There are good
capitals, with early foliage, and a bold row of zigzags.

During the years 1194 and 1195 Ralph was employed in the
King's service with his cousin John le Strange (II) of Ness as
Castellans of Carreghova, near Llanymynech, south of Oswestry,
in the modern county of Denbigh, for the protection of some silver
mines which were worked for the Crown under the superintendence
of one Joseph, a clerk of Archbishop Hubert, who was acting as

1 Pipe Roll, 2 Ric. I. * Rot. Hundred, pp. 73 and 102.

Proc. Soc. Antiq., 2nd Series, xv. 17. P. 796.

42 LE STRANGE RECORDS

Viceroy of England during Richard's absence abroad. The ex-
penses of working are accounted for in the Pipe Rolls of 1194-5 ;
the experiment proving unprofitable was ultimately abandoned.
An entry in the Plea Rolls 1 shows that on May 12, 1195, excuse was
made for the non-appearance of John le Strange in a suit to which
he was a party, on the ground that he was certified to be in the
King's service in place of Ralph le Strange, who was sick ; the
latter must have died about midsummer 1195, as at Michaelmas
the King's Escheator had received three months' issues of the
manors of Alveley and Weston, then in the King's hands. 2 His
estates were divided among his three sisters ; Margaret was wife
of Thomas Noel, a man of considerable importance in Staffordshire,
of which county he was Sheriff from 1184 to 1189 ; Juliana, or
Joan, who was apparently the second sister, married Richard de
Wappenbury, who held five fees of old feoffment in Warwickshire
under the barony of Mowbray ; and the youngest sister, Matilda,
married a Welshman, Gruffydd de Sutton, son of Gervase Coch
(Gervase is probably the Welsh lorwerth). It seems that their
cousin, John le Strange (II) of Ness, put in a claim to the succession
of Knockin as the right heir of Hamo, the original feoffee thereof ;
the matter was, however, arranged amicably, for, as Eyton judi-
ciously points out, 3 it was ' evident that a border fortress and
estate was recognized as no fit matter of coparcenary among
females.' Within three years of their succession the three co-
heiresses, together with their husbands, came to an arrangement
for surrendering Knockin to John le Strange, and receiving a
valuable consideration in return. The Fines by which this transfer
was effected are interesting legal documents, but as they are printed
in full by Eyton 4 1 do not give them here. Margery Noel received
for her third share of Knockin all John's lands of Myxle (Mixen)
and Bradnop in Staffordshire, or in exchange land to the value of
30 solidates from his lands in Norfolk. 5 Juliana de Wappenbury
got 20 solidates of land in Gesewde, or in exchange 30 solidates

1 Placita incerti temporis Regis Johannis, No. 60. Internal evidence proves it
to be a roll of Easter Term, 6 Ric. I ; Eyton, iii. i$on.
1 Eyton, iii. 130. * iii. 131.

* x. 367 ; Feet of Fines, 8 and 9 Ric. I., Salop, P.R.O., Case 193, File No. i.
6 C. Ch. R,, Hen. Ill, vol. i. 36.

JOHN LE STRANGE (I) 43

in Norfolk ; while Matilda de Sutton accepted, in exchange for
her third share of Knockin, John's feoffment in the whole vills of
Dovaston and Kinaston. 1 It is worth noticing that the husbands of
these three ladies had already, in the year 1196, fined 200 marks
with the King, ' for having all the land which was before Ralph
le Strange's, together with the fortress (municione) which is called
Cnukin.' z The amount thus paid to the King, equivalent to about
6000 nowadays, gives some measure of the value of Ralph le
Strange's estate. It must be remembered that, at this period
and for more than three centuries after it, Knockin formed, part
of Wales and not of England ; perhaps it would be more correct to
say that it then belonged to neither, but was in the Welsh March.
It was not until 1535 that Oswestry, Whittington, Ellesmere, and
Knockin were severed from Wales and annexed to England
(Salop) by Act of Parliament. It would be interesting, but not
easy, to work out the status of the le Strange lands in the March,
whether they were independent lordships, or part of the Arundel
fief of Oswestry. In all probability the original holdings were sub-
infeudations, subject to the ordinary services of feudal tenure,
but gradually accreted large additions from the Welshry, which
under the ' custom of the March,' tended towards practical inde-
pendence of English law, and even of royal authority.

RALPH LE STRANGE OF LITTLE ERCALL.

It only remains now to deal with Ralph, the fourth son of
Roland le Strange and Matilda le Brun. We have seen 3 that he
attested, c. 1160, his brother John's charter to Castleacre, in which
mention is made of the names of their father and mother ; also
that he was the first witness to John's grant of Edgefield to Binham
Priory, made before H74. 4 On the death of Hamo le Strange in
1160, although his eldest brother John was undoubtedly his
heir-at-law, Ralph, the youngest of the four brothers, was allowed
to succeed to Little Ercall, and he consequently appears in the
Liber Niger 5 as holding half a knight's fee of new feoffment

1 Rot. Fines, 9 Ric. I, Salop. Rot. Pip., 8, 9, 10, Ric. I.

* Supra, 5. * Ibid. 12. i. 144.

44 LE STRANGE RECORDS

immediately under fitz Alan. 1 A similar entry appears also
in the Red Book of the Exchequer, I have already mentioned 2
the charter by which William fitz Alan confirmed to Haughmond
Abbey the manor of Nagington, a member of Little Ercall : this
grant was subsequently confirmed by Ralph as heir of his brother
Hamon. 3 Eyton has called attention to the importance of keeping
distinct what little is known of the different individuals who bore
the name of Ralph le Strange during the last half of the twelfth
century. Two I have already distinguished, Ralph of Ercall,
the youngest brother of John (I), dead in 1194, from his nephew
Ralph, son of Guy of Alveley, ob. 1195. The third is Ralph of
Litcham, in Norfolk, of whom I shall have something to say later,
but may mention here that considerable confusion arises be-
cause the elder branch of the le Stranges, that of Hunstanton and
Ness, also possessed a considerable estate in Litcham, and it even
appears that Ralph of Ercall must have held some interest there,
as, after his death, his daughter and co-heir Emma impleaded
her sister Maud for certain messuages in Litcham and Ringstead. 4

The following deed, quoted by Eyton from the Haughmond
Chartulary 5 as passed between 1182 and 1194, confirms so much
of the early genealogy of the family that it is worth reproducing
in full :

Omnibus sancte Dei ecclesie filiis tarn presentibus quam futuris Radulphus
Extraneus Salutem. Notum sit omnibus vobis me concessisse et dedisse et pre-
senti carta confirmasse Deo et ecclesie Sancti Johannis Evangeliste de Hagmon et
canonicis ibidem Deo servientibus in perpetuam elemosinam, pro salute anime
mee et patris mei et matris et Johannis fratris mei, qui feudum mihi dedit, et filii
mei Rolandi, omniumque antecessorum meorum et successorum meorum, molen-
dinum de Hunstanston, quod est de hereditate patris mei, cum sede sua et omnibus
pertinentiis suis, libere et quiete de me et heredibus meis ab omnibus terrenis
consuetudinibus et exactionibus, tenendum et habendum in perpetuum. Hiis
testibus, Widone de Thichwelle, Willielmo de Bruna, 6 Radulpho, Widone de
Schawburia, Roberto fratre ejus, Elia fratre Jone sacerdotis, &c.

It is evident from the above that Ralph's son Roland had
predeceased his father ; that Ralph had been enfeoffed in some

1 Eyton, viii. 8. 2 Supra, 29. 8 Eyton, viii. 9.

' Blomefield, ix. 149. 8 Eyton, viii. 10.

Rector of Hunstanton church when John gave the advowson to Haughmond in 1 178.

JOHN LE STRANGE (I) 45

land at Hunstanton by his brother John (I) ; and that after
John's death (1178) Ralph granted to Haughmond Abbey one
of the two mills which, as we saw in Chapter I, Roland le Strange
had inherited from his father-in-law, Ralph fitz Herluin. The
verdict of the Mileham jury, cited when dealing with John (I), 1
shows that that manor was then in the custody of the two brothers.
There is a second entry to the same effect in the Red Book of the
Exchequer ; 2 also an earlier entry in the same book 3 concerning
Ralph le Strange, but whether it relates to Ralph of Ercall or
Ralph of Litcham is as uncertain as is the barony cited in the
Exchequer accounts. The entry runs as follows :

Baroniae incertae.

Radulphus Extraneus dedit Hugoni de Creissio de feudo duorum militum,
quod tenet de eo, de dote suse uxoris x marcas ad scutagium ; et de relefio, c*
dedit dominae Alae Willelmus de Watton et ilia Comiti de Warenna.

Ralph of Ercall was dead in June 1194, and was succeeded
by two daughters, the elder of whom, Matilda, married Fulk de
Oirri, of Gedney, in Lincolnshire, and the younger, Emma, was
the wife of Philip de Burnham. A long litigation, lasting from
1194 to 1217, ensued as to their respective shares of Ralph's in-
heritance both in Norfolk and Shropshire ; the details are given
by Eyton 4 from the Plea and other Rolls, but, for genealogical
purposes, they are scarcely worth reproducing here. One of the
main points of interest I have already mentioned, viz. that
Ralph of Ercall possessed land in Litcham ; and another is that
John le Strange (II) seems to have established his rights as
mesne lord at Ercall as heir to his uncle Hamo, in spite of the
fact that his father had never insisted on these rights.

MATILDA LE STRANGE.

In his valuable monograph on Carrow Abbey, near Norwich,
issued at the sole cost of the late Mr. J. J. Colman, Mr. Walter
Rye gives the name of Matilda le Strange as the first prioress of
whom he has been able to find mention ; she occurs from 1198

1 Supra, 36. ' ii. cclxxx.

1 Ibid, cclxxix. * viii. 10-12.

46 LE STRANGE RECORDS

to 1222. 1 Unfortunately nothing is recorded to show who she
was ; she might have been a daughter of John (II), of whose
family we only know the name of one daughter, viz., Margery,
who married Ralph de Pichford ; but it seems rather unlikely
that a baron living on the Shropshire March would have sent
a daughter to a priory so far off as Norwich ; more probably
Matilda was one of the Litcham or Fransham le Stranges. There
must have been many daughters in the pedigree whose names
have not come down to us because they were not heiresses, or
did not make brilliant marriages.

Blomefield says 2 that Ralph le Strange, fourth son of Roland,
held the lordship of East Winch, and gave the rectory of the
church thereof to Carrow Priory ; Mr. Rye mentions this, and
also that the donor had a daughter Matilda, who married Fulk
de Oirri ; on this he founds a conjecture that she was aunt to
Matilda le Strange, the prioress of Carrow ; I am unable to accept
this. Matilda, the daughter of Ralph, had, as far as is known,
only one brother, Roland, who died without issue during his
father's lifetime ; and her only sister, as I have mentioned above, 3
married Philip de Burnham.

LE STRANGE OF LITCHAM.

That a considerable degree of confusion should exist between
the le Stranges of Hunstanton and Ness, and those of Litcham,
is not to be wondered at, considering that, in the latter half of
the twelfth century, both held under Fitz Alan, both had an
interest in Litcham, and that the name of Ralph was used by
both families. Whether any, and if any, what degree of relation-
ship existed between them, has been a puzzle which even genea-
logists as painstaking as Eyton and Carthew have been unable
to solve. Indeed, not much has been added to what was known
to Blomefield, or rather Parkin, his continuator, who, writing in
1775,* says that the manor of Netherhall in Litcham was granted
by Alan fitz Flaald to Sewald, from whom John le Strange

1 Carrow Abbey, by W. Rye (1889), p. 38. * Blomefield, ix. 149.

Supra, p. 45. * x. 9.

JOHN LE STRANGE (I) 47

descended ; that in the 55th of Henry III he held a fee here and
impleaded the rector for keeping the evidences of his lordship
from him, but released the action by deed dated at Knockin,
which shows that this family was related to that of Knockin ;
and, further, that by Isabella his wife he had two sons, John
and Ralph, whereof the elder, John, married dementia, relict of
Jordan de Sackville, and daughter of Sir William de Burgh.

Let us see how much of this will stand the test of strict proof,
of which Blomefield, of course, gives none, and even Eyton relegates
his account of these le Stranges to two notes, 1 and, contrary to his
usual custom, does not give his authorities. He does, however,
in another place 2 quote a deed from the Haughmond Chartu-
lary, 3 whereby John le Strange (II), between 1178 and 1180, con-
firmed half a virgate in Webblescowe to Haughmond Abbey. The
second and third witnesses to this are ' Wido le Strange ' (clearly
Guy of Alveley), ' and Ralph le Strange of Lucheham.' It is a
somewhat suspicious circumstance that, in a copy of this deed
in the British Museum, 4 these two witnesses are described as
' Wido my brother and Ralph his son/ i.e. not Ralph of Litcham.
The confusion as to the two Ralphs is not confined only to the
twentieth century.

Eyton's note as to the descent of le Strange of Litcham is as
follows : 5

Siward, living in Henry Ps time, was succeeded by a son Ralph, and Ralph
by a son Durandus, living about 1155-60. Durandus le Strange, by his wife
Agnes, had a son Ralph, who was also called le Strange, and was living from 1180
to 1217. John le Strange, son of Ralph, occurs from 1240 to 1292. He had by
his wife Isabella two sons, John and Ralph. John, the elder son, died May 31,
1305, without issue. Ralph his brother and heir was living in 1310.

Durannus le Strange was one of the witnesses to the grant
of John le Strange (I) to Castleacre, in which the latter mentioned
his father Roland and his mother Matilda, the date of which, as
we have seen, 6 is after midsummer 1160. He appears as 'witness
to a confirmation of a grant by William de Lisewis of land at
Gately ; 7 and Carthew quotes from the Castleacre Chartulary 8

1 viii. gn. ; x. 26o. * Ibid. x. 76. 8 fo. 225.

* Hart. MSS. 2188, fo. 123. B x. 260. Supra, 5.

7 Carthew, i. 133. 8 Ibid. i. 126.

48 LE STRANGE RECORDS

a grant of rents in Wesenham by Durannus himself, which is
attested by ' Radulfo filio Duranni, Prudentia matre ejus.' This
proves that Eyton was mistaken in saying that the name of the
wife of Durannus was Agnes : Agnes was the wife of his son Ralph,
and survived her husband, as is shown by a charter quoted by
Eyton, 1 which describes her as 'Agnes uxor Radulphi Extranei de
Lutcham jam defuncti.'

This branch of the family were possessed of very consider-
able property in Norfolk ; they were lords of the two Hundreds of
Launditch and South Greenhow, and their grants show that they
held land in the adjoining parishes of Litcham, Mileham, Stan-
field, Titteshall, Wellingham, Sutton, Bittering, and Wesenham.

Blomefield, in his account of Wellingham, 2 says that Alan fitz
Flaald granted that manor, which was part of his Honour of
Mileham, with the Hundreds of Launditch and South Greenhow,
to Seward, ancestor of a family who assumed the name of le
Strange ; and that William, son of Alan, by deed sans date, con-
firmed to Durand, son of Ralph, son of Seward, the land of Welling-
ham, Bittering, and Sutton, for the payment of 8s. per annum,
three of the attesting witnesses being John, Hamo, and Guy
Extraneus. Blomefield does not say where he saw this charter,
but it must have been passed before Michaelmas 1160 when Hamo,
brother of John (I), died.

Several generations of the pedigree of the Litcham le Stranges
are proved by the inquisition on the death of John le Strange (II) *
of Litcham in 1305. The jurors say that he died on May 21 of that
year, leaving as heir his brother Ralph, then fifty years old ; that
John and his wife dementia held jointly certain lands in Welling-
ham, with the Hundreds of Launditch and South Greenhow of
the heir of Richard fitz Alan, as well as certain rents in Fransham ;
that they had been enfeoffed of the two Hundreds by John le
Strange (I) in the year 1294, and held them in common until the
death of John on May 21 last ; that John his father had acquired
them from an ancestor named Durandus le Strange, who, before
time of legal memory, had acquired them from Flandus, son of

1 Eyton, i. 125. x. 73.

P.R.O. Chancery Inq., Edw. I, File 118, No. 13.

JOHN LE STRANGE (I) 49

Alan, formerly lord of Mileham, to be held of him by service of
6 a year ; that the said Hundreds descended by hereditary suc-
cession from Durandus to his son and heir Ralph ; from this
Ralph to another Ralph as his son and heir ; and from the last-
named Ralph to John le Strange, who had enfeoffed John and
dementia. The Fine Rolls contain an order to the King's Es-
cheator, dated June 24, 1305, to take into the King's hands the
lands late of John le Straunge of Lutham, deceased, tenant by knight
service of the heir of Richard fitz Alan, Earl of Arundel, a minor. 1

An undated charter in the Hunstanton Muniment Room 2
of Thomas de Aleby, granting fifteen acres of land in Fransham
to William de Stuteville, is attested by Johanne Extraneo de
Luxham. This must have been John the husband of Isabella
and son of Ralph, as William de Stuteville died in 1259. Another
undated grant to William de Stuteville exists at Hunstanton, 3
and is witnessed by Ralph and Roger le Strange. This Ralph,
if one of the Litcham family, must have been the father of John
who married Isabella. There are several undated charters quoted
by Carthew from the Castleacre Chartulary, 4 witnessed by ' Radul-
pho Extraneo,' who was probably the son or the grandson of
Durannus of Litcham, as the Hunstanton Ralphs, brothers of
John (I) and John (II), only occur during the twelfth century,
while their Litcham namesakes are considerably later. Of these
charters the only one to which an approximate date can be assigned
is one tested by 'Domino Rogero Extraneo,' and 'Domino Radulpho
Extraneo' being an exchange between Robert, Prior of Castleacre,
and Willelmus films Sewardi. Robert Alanson was prior there
about the year 1220.

The following entries in the Rolls of the period probably relate
to the Litcham family. In the ist year of King John (1199-1200)
Ralph le Estrange was attorney for William fitz Alan in a Suffolk
suit of mort d'ancestre against the abbot of St. Edmund's, but
Ralph failed to appear or to excuse himself. 5 On October 30,
1217, Henry III wrote to the Sheriff of Norfolk that

1 Col. of Fine Rolls, i. 522. | N.K.i. | | N.A.i. |

Carthew, i. 126-30. Rot. Cur. Regis, edited by Sir F. Palgrave, ii. 38.

50 LE STRANGE RECORDS

Ralph le Strange has returned to our fealty and service ; he is to have seisin
of all lands in your Bailiwick which he had on the day when he departed from
the fealty and service of King John our father. 1

This shows that Ralph had sided with the barons against the
King. I conclude that this Ralph was the son of Durannus and
the husband of Agnes. On March 20, and April 8, 1225, there
are two writs stating that the King has given respite of knight-
hood to Ralph le Strange until Michaelmas next. 2 These I take
to refer to Ralph, son of the previous Ralph, and grandson of
Durannus. An undated grant of land in Weasenham by Adam,
son of Alan de Wesenhamtorpe, to Roger de Freville of Welling-
ham, has for its first witness ' Radulpho Extraneo ' ; this may be
either the son or grandson of Durannus. 3

The Hundred Rolls contain inquisitions concerning the Hun-
dreds of Launditch and South Greenhow taken in 3 Edw. I
(1274-75). As to Launditch, the jurors say that it is in the hand
of John le Strange of Litcham, by gift of the ancestors of John
fitz Alan of Mileham, who held the said Hundred which had
belonged to the manor of Mileham since the Conquest, and that
John le Strange paid therefrom ' ad albam firmam ' 235. 4^.,
and that beyond that the said Hundred was worth 405. They
further said that John le Strange claimed to have the royal Liber-
ties, such as assize of bread and ale, and other things which
belong to the Crown in Litcham, by gift of the ancestors of John
fitz Alan, who now is heir of the manor of Mileham and in the King's
custody. Also that John le Strange, Lord of Litcham, claims to
have the said liberties and view of frank pledge therein, since at the
time of the Conquest it was a member of Mileham. 4 As to the Hun-
dred of South Greenhow, the jurors say that it is also in the hand of
John le Strange, and has been for many years back ; that it renders
yearly to the King 245. 4^., and is worth five marks a year. 5

By a Fine, dated February 16, 6 Edw. I. (1278), John, son of
John le Strange of Litcham, granted to John, son of Ralph le
Strange of Litcham, certain lands, rents, &c., in Wellingham
and Weasenham for the life of John son of Ralph at a rose

1 Rot. Lit. Claus., 1204-24, i. 3386. 2 Ibid. ii. 716, and 266.

8 Hist. MSS. Comm., Report on Lord Middleton's papers, p. 50.
^* Rot. Hundr., Hen. III. and Edw. I, i. 434. B Ibid. i. 5176.

JOHN LE STRANGE (I) 51

rent. 1 On October 13 of the same year Richard de Perers and Joan
his wife granted a messuage and certain lands in Longham to John
le Strange and Isabella his wife for the rent of a clove of gilly-
flower, receiving as consideration a sparrow-hawk. 2 By a Fine
of July 8, 1285, Richard le Rule of Snoring and John le Strange
of Litcham granted the advowson of the church of Testerton to
Henry de Wirham and Richard le Rus, for which they paid a soar
sparrow-hawk ; and by another Fine of the same date the two
last named granted to Richard le Bule and John son of John le
Strange of Litcham the advowson of Little Snoring for the same
consideration in fact, the two livings were simply exchanged. 8
John son of John le Strange granted by Fine of May 12, 1286, to
Richard Bule that when the church of Little Snoring should fall
vacant, Richard or his heirs should present to it alternately with
John and his heirs for ever, Richard to have the next presentation. 4
On October 27 of the same year John son of John le Strange called
Robert de Tateshall to warrant for the custody of William, son
and heir of William de Gerners, because William held of him by
knight service. John quitclaimed to Robert for 10 sterling. 5

A Fine of April 24, I289, 6 shows that John de Stonham and
Roger de Necton granted to John son of John le Strange and
dementia his wife a messuage and 31^ acres of land in Little
Snoring, together with two serfs (nativi) and their issue (cum tota
sequela sua) for the consideration of one sparrow-hawk. By a
Fine, dated November 3, 1292, John son of Ralph le Strange of
Litcham and Isabella his wife granted the following lands and
tenements to John de Walsham, parson of the church of Little
Snoring, and Richard de Sutton, with reverter to the grantor's
son John and Isabella his wife ; viz. one messuage and 140 acres
of land, a mill, 15 acres of meadow, 15 of marsh, 5 of heath,
and 295. 8%d. of rent, in Litcham, Mileham, Titteshall, Stanfield,
and Little Bittering. 7

P.R.O. Feet of Fines, Case 159, File 107, No. 115.

Ibid., Case 139, File 108, No. 138.

Ibid., Case 160, File 113, Nos. 325 and 326.

Ibid., Case 160, File 114, No. 356. 6 Ibid., Case 160, File 115, No. 496.

Ibid., 17 Edw. I, No. 542, dorse.

P.R.O. Feet of Fines, 20 Edw. I, Case 160, File 116, No. 619, dorse.

E 2

52 LE STRANGE RECORDS

A deed in the Hunstanton Muniment Room, 1 whereby Jordan
ffolyot on May 28, 1285, grants a rent for life out of the manor
of Lechesam, is witnessed by ' Johanne le Estrange milite,' and
also by ' Johanne le Estrange ' ; these are probably the father and
son, who married Isabella and dementia respectively.

The Feudal Aids for 1302 mention that Robert de Felton held
half a knight's fee in Litcham of 'Johanne Extraneo de la March'
i.e. of John (V) of Knockin, who held under the Earl of Arundel ; z
and, in the same year, that Isabella le Strange, Richard le Deneys,
and their parceners held a knight's fee in Longham and Cotes
of the Earl of Arundel ; apparently therefore Isabella's husband,
John le Strange of Litcham, was then dead. In the Feudal
Aids for 1316 John de Felton and Isabella Lestraunge are entered
as the lords of Lucham ; 3 she was deceased before 1346, as the
same authority for that year mentions that John de Gun ton and
others then held the knight's fee in Longham and Cotes which
Isabella le Straunge and her parceners formerly held. 4

A Fine of February 9, 1305, shows that John and dementia
granted to John de Stonham and Roger de Nee ton 44 messuages,
70 acres of land, 12 of meadow, 6 solidates, and the rent of 3
quarters of barley and 3 quarters of oats, in Wellingham, Weasen-
ham, and Fransham, with the advowson of Wellingham church, with
half the manor of Little Snoring, and the advowson of a moiety of
the church of that manor ; all of which the said John and Roger
gave back to John and dementia and their heirs. 5 This was
shortly before the decease of John le Strange ; the inquest on
him, already quoted, 6 shows that he died s.p. on May 21, 1305.
His widow dementia held for her life the manor and church of
Wellingham, and the Hundreds of Launditch and Greenhow. 7
It is evident from the above Fines that the le Stranges of Litcham
were possessed of a considerable estate in nine or ten different
parishes in that neighbourhood.

The subjoined pedigree is deducible from the foregoing
evidences.

N.A. 35. I * Feudal Aids, 1284-1431, iii. 416. * Ibid. p. 454.

4 Ibid. p. 539. B Ibid., 33 Edw. I, Case 161, File 120, No. 956, dorse.

Supra, p. 48. > P.R.O. Feet of Fines, 2 Edw. II, Case 162, File 125, No. no.

JOHN LE STRANGE (I)

PEDIGREE OF LE STRANGE OF LITCHAM.
SIWARD, or SEWARD = * * *

Ralph
mentioned in
charter quo-
tedbyBlome-
field

* *

Durannus le Strange, = Prudentia

* * *

acquired Hundreds
of Launditch and
S. Greenhow from
Alan fitz Flaald.
Witnessed grant by
John le S. to Cast-
leacre, c. 1160.

witnessed her hus-
band's grant in
Castleacre Char-
tulary.

Ralph le Strange (II), = Agnes
witnessed his father's
grant to Castleacre

* * *

survived her
husband

Ralph le Strange (III) = * * *
had respite of knight-
hood, 1225

' Roger le Strange
occ. N.A. i. |

John le Strange (I) ; :
occ. in or before
1259. Enfeoffed
John his son and
dementia of the
Hundreds of Laun-
ditch and S. Green-
how in 1293-4 ; d.
in 1302.

Isabella * * *
occ. 1278,
1296 ; su-
perstes 1316;
d. before
1346.

John le Strange (II) ; = dementia * * *

enfeoffed by his
father, 1293, 1294;

relict of Jor-
dandeSackville,
second dau. of
Wm. de Burgh ;
occ. 1316.

Ralph leS. =*
brother
and heir.
Age 50
at d. of
John.

54 LE STRANGE RECORDS

Several other le Stranges, whose names occur in rolls or charters
of this period, are difficult to connect with known branches of
the family.

ADAM, HUGH, AND JOHN LE STRANGE.

In the Pipe Roll of 23 Hen. II (1177), Guy le Strange (of
Alveley), then Sheriff of Shropshire, accounts for 15 marks
paid by him, in accordance with the King's writ, to Adam le
Strange. Two charters of this same Guy are tested by Adam ;
one, still preserved at Badger in Shropshire, to which Eyton
assigns the date c. H74, 1 mentions no less than five le Stranges ;
Guy of Alveley confirms a sale of land at Badger, the two first
witnesses are ' Johannes Extmneus ' and ' Hugo Extraneus,' and
among the others are ' Adam filius Hamonis Extranei,' and ' Johannes
frater Hugonis Extranei.' Carthew z says that Hugh, who was one
of the above witnesses, was dead in 1240, and that his inheritance
in Shropshire was divided among females, being held under John
le Strange of the fitz Alan fief. The second charter in which
Adam appears is in the Haughmond Chartulary, and is placed
by Eyton at about the year H79. 3 It is a grant by Guy, shortly
before his death, of the mill of Osbaston to Haughmond
Abbey, and is witnessed by Ralph, the grantor's son, and by
Adam, son of Hamo Extraneus. Who was this Hamo ? It
can scarcely have been the son of Guy of Alveley, who died in
his father's lifetime, as he could not have had a son old enough,
and the only other Hamo that we know of at that period was
Guy's elder brother, who, as we have seen from the Pipe Rolls,
died before Michaelmas 1160, leaving no legitimate issue. Adam
may possibly have been an illegitimate son of his. About this
same period an Adam le Strange, who may or may not have been
the same individual, appears at Loppington, near Ellesmere. 4
Alexander de Loppington, who lived in the reigns of Richard I
and Henry III, is recorded to have given half of that manor
in frank-marriage to Adam le Strange, who married one of his

1 Eyton, ii. 66. i. 157.

Eyton, x. 366. * Ibid., x. 224-5.

JOHN LE STRANGE (I) 55

daughters. 1 They had a son named William who, at the Assizes
of November 1221, had and won several suits against his brother-
in-law, Richard de Loppington, as to the validity of the above
gift. William le Strange appears to have had a son named John,
as the Pimhill Hundred Roll for 1225 shows that William was
living in that year ; while the Roll for 1274 records that the half
of Loppington, which had originally gone to Adam le Strange,
had been given in fee by John le Strange of Loppington to the
abbot of Lilleshull. 2

I have already mentioned 3 that the grant by John le Strange
(I) of the church of Hunstanton to Haughmond Abbey, between
1172 and 1 177,* is witnessed by a canon, also named John le
Strange. Of this canon I find no further mention, unless he be
the same individual as John, son of Thomas le Strange, who
attested a charter of William Banastre to Haughmond Abbey
c. 1216 ; 5 but even so, it does not help the identification much, as
I do not know who this Thomas le Strange was.

REGINALD LE STRANGE.

Another le Strange who, as far as I am aware, is mentioned
once and once only, is Reginald, whose name is supplied by the
Haughmond Chartulary 6 as the first witness to a confirmation
of a grant made to that abbey before 1157 by Richard de Pichford.

RICHARD LE STRANGE.

The Pipe Roll for 5 Hen. II (1159) gives a trace of a le Strange
in Devonshire in the following entry :

DEUENESCIRA. Ricardus filius Estrangi reddit compotum de c. marcas pro
se redimendo.

A grant * of March I, 1160, from the canons of Exeter to the

1 Rot. Hundr., temp. Hen. Ill and Edw. I, ii. 1046.

* Eyton, x. 227 ; Cal. Charter Rolls, Hen. III-Edw. I. 1257-1300, p. 59.

8 Supra, p. 35. ' Haughmond Chartulary, fo. 121. * Eyton, x. 46.

Fo. 40; Eyton, x. 201. 7 Hist. MSS. Comm. iv. 49.

56 LE STRANGE RECORDS

nuns of Polslo of a burial ground, is witnessed by ' Richardo filio
Estrangi.'

DOMINA ESTRANGIA.

The only other le Stranges of this period of whom I have
found mention are two ladies who held property, recorded in
the Pipe Roll of Henry II, one of them in Kent, the other in
Gloucestershire. These are not single entries, but recur year after
year. In the case of Kent the first entry is as follows :

GHENT. 3 Hen. II (1157).

In tends datis. In Eilesford [Aylesford] xxxij libras blancas quas Estrangia
habet. 1

' Blancas ' signifying blanched money tried by fire. Nearly
similar entries follow for each year up to the 17 Hen. II, except
that the name is sometimes spelt ' Extranea/ and that she is
usually styled ' Domina,' but in no instance is any Christian name
given. The latest entry which shows the date of her death is
as follows :

GHENT. 17 Hen. II (1171).

Domine Extranee iiij libras blancas in Ailesford de viij a parte anni dum
vixit. 2

An inquest of a century later on William de Dunstan (Ex.
No. 19, 55 Henry III) says that one Strangea, who sometime
held the manor of Aylesford, gave a rent therefrom to William in
frank-marriage with a domicella of her household. 3

Hasted in his 'History of Kent' makes no mention of any
le Strange having held property in Aylesford.

In the Gloucestershire instance the Pipe Roll gives the Christian
name of the lady, viz. ' Heiliwisa' but she cannot be identical with
the Kentish tenant, as the entries run on to 23 Hen. II, without
any mention of her death.

1 Pipe Roll Soc., Hen. II, p. 77. * Ibid. p. no.

8 Archceologia Cantiana, vi. 238, 246.

JOHN LE STRANGE (I) 57

The earliest entry is :

GLOECESTRESCIRA. 7 Hen. II (1161).
In liberationibus constitutis Heiliwise Extranee xxx.s. et v.d.

Libemtiones constitute being certain fixed payments charged
on the King's lands, for which the Sheriff was allowed when
rendering the account of his farm of the county. In the 9 Hen. II
the amount paid to Heiliwisa was increased to ' xlv.s. et vij.^.
et ob.,' and it remained at that figure in each year up to the latest
entry in 24 Hen. II (1178).

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CHAPTER III

JOHN LE STRANGE (ll)
II78-I234

JOHN LE STRANGE (II) succeeded his father in his possessions in
Norfolk and Shropshire in 1178-79, and as there is no mention
of his lands having been taken into the King's hands, it is evident
that he was already of full age. In fact, he had been in public
life for some years, as we have seen in the last chapter J that he
was associated with his father, c. 1175, as a witness to that grant
made by William Fitz Alan (II), on his coming of age, to Buildwas
Abbey, which was attested by no less than five le Stranges.
For a period of fifty-six years he served under four successive
sovereigns, through the last eleven years of Henry II, the whole
of the reigns of Richard I and John, and through eighteen years
of that of Henry III. The principle which guided him in public
life appears to have been that of steadfast loyalty and unshaken
fidelity to the occupant of the throne, totally irrespective of the
merits of the individual : he was the ideal of a feudal tenant, the
King's ' man/ and never swerved during that troubled half-cen-
tury from the homage which he had sworn and the fealty which
he owed to his lord, whoever he might be.

Though his duties and necessities as a Lord Marcher kept him
mostly employed on the Welsh border, he did not neglect his Nor-
folk possessions; almost his first appearance after his father's
death was in connection with the manor of Holme-next-the-Sea,

1 Supra, p. 35.
59

60 LE STRANGE RECORDS

which he held under the Earl of Arundel. A dispute as to the
advowson of the church had arisen between the abbot of Ramsey
and John le Strange. The chartulary of that abbey, published
in the Rolls Series, contains several pages of close print, detailing
an inquisition held at Holme as to the rights of the case. The
jury found :

Ecclesia de Hulmo est in donatione Johannis le Straunge. Terrae de Hulmo
non sunt distinctae per hydas, vel per virgatas, et ideo nescitur quot hydae vel
quot virgatae sunt ibidem. 1

The matter was settled by a fine levied at Westminster on
November 13, 1188, whereby the abbot quitclaimed the advow-
son to John le Strange, receiving in return a yearly pension of one
mark from the parson of Holme. 2 The arrangement was con-
firmed by the Bishop of Norwich (John of Oxford), who laid down
the law in the following terms :

Since there has been a controversy between the abbot and convent of Ramsey
and ' nobilem viram Johannem Extraneum ' about the advowson of Holme, in
order to make peace we grant that the said abbot and convent shall have a mark
of silver annually from the cleric instituted into the said church on the presenta-
tion of the said John, but no other rights in the said church ; and John shall
present a cleric to the Bishop whenever a vacancy occurs. 3

John executed a charter granting the pension to the abbot
as stipulated, 4 and everyone was pleased, except perhaps the poor
parson, who had to pay his bishop the equivalent of 30 a year
in money of to-day. The Lilleshall Chartulary 5 shows that
the bishop instituted William le Brun into the church of Holme
on the presentation of John le Strange, the patron. William was
already rector of the church of St. Mary at Hunstanton, which,
as we have seen above, 6 John le Strange's father, who was perhaps
the rector's cousin on the mother's side, had granted to the abbey
of Haughmond. Eyton 7 says that this grant was confirmed by
the Bishop of Norwich in 1178, and that in another charter he
allowed the canons of Haughmond to appropriate the rectory;

1 i. 401. * Ibid. ii. 383.

8 Chronicon Abbatia Ramesiensis (Rolls Series), p. 313.

* Chartulary of Ramsey, i. 100. 6 Ff. 55 and 80 ; Eyton, x. 266.

6 Supra, p. 55. 7 x. 266.

JOHN LE STRANGE (II) 61

this transaction explains how it is that the benefice is at the
present day a vicarage. Not long afterwards John le Strange (II)
gave the church of Holme to Lilleshall Abbey for the soul's
health of himself and Amicia his wife, ' Master William le Strange,'
the grantor's brother, attesting the gift. This charter is printed
in Dugdale's ' Monasticon.' 1

Immediately on his accession John (II) confirmed his father's
grant of the church of Ches war dine to Haughmond, 2 and, not
long afterwards, confirmed William fitz Walter's charter, granting
to the same abbey land at Middle, in which the latter had been
enfeoffed by John's father. 3 Another early deed of his, which I
have mentioned in dealing with le Strange of Litcham, 4 confirms
a grant by his father of some land at Webblescowe to Haughmond.

The Pipe Rolls for 27 Henry II (1180-81), and succeeding
years, show that the Sheriff of Shropshire had the same allowances
in respect of Ness and Cheswardine as had been made during the
time of John (I), viz. 7 los. for the former, and 4 for the latter;
and, similarly, the Sheriff of Staffordshire continued to be allowed
8s. 8d. for the pasture at Trentham originally given to John (I).

The foregoing are the only transactions that I can find asso-
ciated with the name of John (II) during the closing years of the
reign of Henry II. That king died at Chinon on the Vienne, near
Tours, on July 6, 1189, and Richard was crowned on September 3
following. Richard cared little for the administration of his
realm of England, his heart was entirely set on military glory ;
of the ten years of his reign he only passed about ten months in
England, which gave small opportunity for John le Strange to
become personally associated with his new sovereign ; he was
fully occupied with looking after that absent sovereign's interests
on the Welsh March, and in prosecuting several lawsuits in which
he became engaged.

One of these, which was concerned with the manor of Great
Withyford in Shropshire, was begun in the year 1194, and lasted
for ten years. The proceedings are recorded in the Pipe Rolls of
Richard I, ascribed to Trinity term 1194, and the Plea Rolls of the

1 vi. 263, No. viii. Eyton, x. 30. ' Ibid. p. 72. Supra, p. 47.

62 LE STRANGE RECORDS

same King. 1 It appears that about the year 1191 Robert Fitz Aer,
who then held the manor of Withyford under Fitz Alan, was
indicted for the murder of Richard de Brigida, that he volun-
tarily placed himself in prison, and that his estate was seized into
the King's hand. The accusation was subsequently withdrawn,
but during this temporary forfeiture John le Strange claimed
Withyford as his by right, and obtained possession of it by writ
from Longchamp, Bishop of Ely, the Chancellor, who was King
Richard's Viceroy at that time. After the release of Robert
Fitz Aer from prison he brought an action against le Strange to
recover possession of Withyford ; the proceedings dragged on for
several years. On May 12, 1195, John le Strange, when summoned
to answer to the suit at Westminster, obtained an adjournment 2
on the ground that he was employed on the King's service in
Wales, where, as we have seen above, 3 he was helping his dying
cousin, Ralph le Strange of Alveley, in the protection of the silver
mines of Carreghova. Robert Fitz Aer did not live to finish the
suit, but it was prosecuted by his widow Emma de Say on behalf
of her son Robert, then under age, and was not settled until
September 25, 1199 ; a final concord was then arrived at, by
which John le Strange was recognised as mesne lord of Withyford,
while actual possession was given to Robert Fitz Aer by the
service of half a knight's fee under le Strange, instead of under
Fitz Alan.

The charges made by the Sheriff of Shropshire in the Pipe Rolls
of 1194 and 1195 for the repairs and victualling of Carreghova
Castle are sufficiently interesting to be given in detail : 4

Pro 20 ligonibus [spades] emptis et missis ad castrum de Karakwain. Et in
operacione cinguli [surrounding wall] circa predictum castrum. . . . Et in
liberacione militum et servientium ad custodiam minarie de Karakawain 28 2s. $d.
per breve Regis et per testimonium Johannis et Radulph Extraneorum et Josephi
clerici Archiepiscopi. . . . Et Radulpho Extraneo 20 ad perficiendum cingulum
circa Ruilium [windlass of well] de Karrecovan. . . . Et ipsi Radulfo 7, pro 70
crennoc' frumenti, et 4 pro 50 baconibus qui liberati fuerunt ei ad custodiam

1 Pipe Roll Soc. xiv. 3. See also Eyton, i. 201-2 ; ix. 310-12. Salop Assizes,
5 John, membr. 2, dorso.

2 Placita incerti tempo ris Regis Johannis, No. 60 [really of Easter term, 6 Ric. I],

3 Supra,p. 41. * Eyton, x. 357.

JOHN LE STRANGE (II) 63

castri de Karrecovan. . . . Et Johanni Extraneo 6 marcas ad faciendum
puteum in predicto castello cum muro et Ruilio.

Another entry on the Plea Roll of the same year, 1194, gives
particulars of a second lawsuit in which John le Strange was
involved, concerning the land at Barnham in Suffolk, which had
come to him from his ancestor, Hugh de Plaiz ; details as to this
have already been given. 1

A third lawsuit in which John le Strange was engaged was
brought to a close by a Fine in the year HQ5. 2 It seems that
Robert Mortimer of Attleborough had some claim to the whole
Norfolk feoffment of le Strange under the Earl of Arundel ; this
consisted, as we have seen in Chapter I, of five knights' fees in
Hunstanton, Ringstead, Tottington, and Snitterton. Mortimer
ultimately released the whole to le Strange by Fine, in considera-
tion of which the latter gave all his lands in Tottington to Mortimer,
to be held under him by nineteen-twentieths of a knight's fee.
The church of St. Andrew at Tottington was, however, excepted
out of this grant, and, with the assent of Mortimer, was given
by John le Strange to the Priory of St. Mary at Campesse in
Suffolk : it was appropriated to that house in 1302, the rectory
being valued at thirty marks, and the vicarage at six. In Pope
Nicholas's ' Taxation of 1291,' Tottington is rated at 20. A further
exception was made of lands belonging to several tenants in
Fransham, one of whom was Hugh, son of Hugh le Strange ;
for this grant of land in Tottington, Robert Mortimer paid to
John le Strange one hundred pounds of silver.

Eyton quotes numerous Shropshire charters of this period,
either executed or witnessed by John le Strange (II). In the first
charter to Oswestry, granted by William fitz Alan (II) about 1190,
the first witnesses are 'Johanne Extraneo et Hamone fratre suo ' ; 3
John also attested at about the same date fitz Alan's grant of
the advowson of the church of St. Oswald of Album Monasterium
(Oswestry) to Shrewsbury Abbey. 4 At Michaelmas 1195 we find
John le Strange acting as pledge to Warin de Burwardsley in a

1 Supra, p. 14. * P.R.O. Feet of Fines, 7 Ric. I, Case 153, File i, No. 36.

8 Harl. MSS. 1981, p. 25.

Eyton, x. 335, and Salop Chartulary, No. 301 ; and Harl. MSS. 1981, p. 24.

64 LE STRANGE RECORDS

Fine at Rowton. 1 Eyton makes a point of there having been
some connection between the two families, because when some
years later John le Strange made a grant in Ches war dine to Haugh-
mond Abbey, Warin de Burward' was a witness. 2 The name of
John le Strange (II), like that of his father, frequently appears in
charters in connection with that of his suzerain fitz Alan, especi-
ally in those relating to their favourite abbey. At this period
le Strange certainly passed most of his time on the Welsh March :
there is nothing to lead us to suppose that he accompanied King
Richard either to the Crusade in 1190, or to the French wars in
1194-9. We find him 3 effecting a composition with Hugh,
abbot of Shrewsbury, which Eyton says 4 must have passed in the
County Court at Salop before June 1195 ; and we have seen that
he was on the King's service at Carreghova in that year.

I have already alluded 5 to the transactions with the three
heiresses of Guy le Strange of Alveley, by which Knockin came
into the possession of the elder branch of the family. Ralph le
Strange had died in 1195, but it was not until three years later
that the three Fines were completed between his sisters and their
cousin, John of Ness and Cheswardine, who thus became 'of
Knockin ' also. That fief grew at once into a place of considerable
importance ; within a year or two of coming into possession of it,
John styled himself lord of Knockin, as may be seen from a deed
in the Haughmond Chartulary, 6 whereby 'Johannes Extraneus
dominus de Knockin' grants to that abbey the new chapel of
Knockin with free access thereto.

Scarcely one stone remains upon another to show what Knockin
once was ; and it is somewhat difficult in the present day to under-
stand the strategic value and importance of this place, as it stands
upon almost level ground, some 220 feet above the sea, and is
even commanded by neighbouring hillocks within easy bow-shot.
It lies a little to the right of the modern road from Shrewsbury
to Oswestry, about six miles south-east by south of the latter
town ; it was therefore a few miles nearer the Welsh hills than

1 Eyton, ii. 8. Haughmond Chartulary, fo. 43.

Salop Chartulary, No. 16. Eyton, i. 87 ; ii. 68.

8 Supra, p. 42. Eyton, x. 369.

Plate VI.

op FEET

100 ROo 3OO

PLATE

Plan of KNOCKIN.

To face page 65.

JOHN LE STRANGE (II) 65

Ness was, and formed, consequently, the most advanced outpost
from the Shropshire side in that part of the debatable land,
for which reason perhaps it was adopted as the caput baronie of
the le Stranges. All that now remains of the castle is an oblong
mound or hillock about twenty-four feet high, close to the road
and overgrown with trees ; there is scarcely a sign of masonry ;
merely a few hewn stones, part of the curtain wall on the south-
east side of the mound, mark the site where once the keep stood ;
the steepest side appears to have been towards the north, where
there is a fosse, 5 feet in depth. The entrenchments are not
in their original perfection, but the scarp of the original defences
can still (1906) be traced. The entrance was probably on the
eastern side, as a semicircular fore-court, or barbican, surrounded
by an escarpment, lies to the east ; in this the modern rectory
with its garden stands. A small brook, tributary of the Severn,
running southwards divides into two branches higher up, making
a sort of island, in which the castle stood, and this no doubt greatly
strengthened the defences. The annexed plan is enlarged from
that given on a minute scale in the ' Victoria History of Shrop-
shire,' l which appears to be copied, without acknowledgment, from
a careful survey of all the earthworks of Shropshire, drawn to
scale by Mr. E. A. Downman, whose plans and descriptions have
lately been deposited in the British Museum. 2 The name, Knockin,
accurately describes the situation ; the Welsh word cnwc denotes
a hillock, and the suffix is probably a diminutive ; the local pro-
nunciation is Knuckin. The word Knock, as part of a place-
name, is extremely common in Ireland, but somewhat rare in
England ; it appears in Cannock in Staffordshire, and again in
our own neighbourhood at Lynn, where ' Guanock ' is the old
name of the little hill on which stands the Chapel of Our Lady of
the Red Mount.

The Pipe Rolls of the period show that Knockin was considered
to be a strong military position, as, in mentioning the resignation
thereof made by the three co-heiresses of Alveley, they describe it
as comprehending ' all the land which was before Ralph le Strange's,
together with the fortress (municione) which is called Cnukin.' s

1 i. 396. Add. MSS. 37678. * Rot. Pip. 8, 9, 10, Ric. I.

66 LE STRANGE RECORDS

In 1197, while Richard was engaged in Normandy in building
his castle of Chateau Gaillard at Les Audelys on the Seine, John
le Strange was among the most active of the Marcher barons.
Eyton says : *

He had, in fact, the custody of Pole Castle (now Powis Castle) on behalf of the
Crown. From the Shropshire Pipe Roll of 1 that year it appears that Archbishop
Hubert had, about Midsummer, made to John le Strange a grant of ten librates of
land in Ford ; but the grant took no effect, and the Sheriff, in lieu of the first
quarter's income, pays 505. in money to the said John.

In the same year we find John and Ralph his brother attest-
ing a charter of Robert Corbet of Caus, granting Wentnor Mill to
the monastery of Buildwas. 2

I have said that, owing to the scanty time that King Richard
passed in England, John le Strange had few opportunities of
personal association with him. Richard was only in his own king-
dom for two, or possibly three short visits ; once in 1189, when
he came over to take possession and to be crowned at Westminster ;
for a second visit in January 1190, when he was making prepara-
tions to start on the third Crusade, the evidence is doubtful ;
the last one took place in 1194, after his escape from imprisonment
in Germany, on which occasion it was that Philip of France wrote
to Richard's brother John, ' Take heed to yourself, the devil is broken
loose. 9 I have no evidence that John le Strange was present at
the Coronation in 1190, but he was one of the witnesses to a
charter, cited by Eyton, 8 and purporting to have been expedited
by the King at Westminster on January 24, 1190 ; if it can be
proved that this charter was issued personally by Richard it is
strong evidence for a not generally recognised visit to England,
but it is hard to find room for it, as he met Philip in France on
January 13 at Gue St. Remi, and in February summoned his
mother and ministers to meet him in Normandy ; Professor Tout
considers that the point needs investigation, as being novel and
important. Four years later Richard landed at Sandwich, after
the German princes had compelled the Emperor to release him
from captivity, and John le Strange must have hastened from the
Welsh border to meet his sovereign. On April 17, 1194, Richard

1 vii. 182. 2 Ibid. vii. 17. vii. 12.

JOHN LE STRANGE (II) 67

was crowned a second time at Winchester, and then proceeded
to Portsmouth, whence he embarked for Normandy ; while at
Portsmouth he confirmed by charter x some recent grants to
Haughmond Abbey, and this confirmation is attested by seven
lay witnesses, of whom John le Strange was one. Richard never
returned to England ; he died on April 6, 1199, having been
mortally wounded by an arrow while engaged in suppressing a
petty rebellion in the Limousin.

At the time of the accession of King John, John le Strange (II)
was in the prime of life, and must have been about forty years of
age : he speedily became one of the new King's most trusted
servants. The Pipe Rolls show that he continued to hold Ness
and Cheswardine in capite, as well as the pasture in Staffordshire
granted to his father. 2 Cheswardine, it will be remembered, was
held as half a knight's fee. Le Strange's first transaction with
King John related to sporting rights ; in April, 1200, he paid a
fine of 20 marks in order that his wood at Chersworth might be
had out of regard, that it might not be afforested, and that no
one might take anything therefrom without licence from him ; 8
on April 16 the King granted to him and his heirs by charter
that his wood of Cheswardine called Suthle should be quit of
all suits of forest, and of all forestage and regard thereof, .and
should not be meddled with by the royal foresters. 4 Apparently
the King exacted a further sum of 10 out of John le Strange
for these privileges, as the Pipe Roll for Shropshire for 1202
contains the following entry :

De oblatis. Johannes Extraneus reddit compotum de x libris pro habendo
bosco suo de Chessewardi. 5

It appears that the church of Cheswardine had been given
to Haughmond by perpetual concession of John le Strange.* In
1200 he became security for the fine of 60 marks which, as we
shall see later, his younger brother Hamon made with the King
for the manor of Wrockwardine. 7

1 Eyton, vii. 293. Rot. Cancell. Magn. Rot. Pipes, 3 John, pp. 46, 121.

8 Rot. de Obi. et Fin., temp. Reg. Johannis, p. 59.

4 Rot. Chart., 1199-1216 (fo. 1837), p. 456. * Rot. Cane. Pip., 3 John, p. 126.

9 Harl. MSS. 3868, fo. 9. 7 Rot. de Oblatis, temp. R. Joh., p. 60.

F 2

68 LE STRANGE RECORDS

One of the manors which had been conferred upon John le
Strange (I) by fitz Alan was Ruyton, eight miles south-east of
Oswestry known as the manor of the eleven towns, from the eleven
townships into which it was formerly divided. Le Strange had
built a castle here, which was captured by the Welsh and de-
stroyed during the war between Gwenwynwyn, Prince of Powis
and Llewelyn, Prince of North Wales. The former had succeeded
to the sovereignty of Powis, or mid-Wales, on the death of
his father, Owen Cyveilioc, in 1197. Llewelyn, who had married
King John's illegitimate daughter Joan, called a council of the
Welsh chief tains in 1201 to receive their homage, but Gwenwyn-
wyn refused to attend. Llewelyn consequently invaded his terri-
tories and eventually obliged him to submit.

The ' Gesta Fulconis Filii Warini ' * contain a narrative of
some curious events relating to this period, a mixture, of course,
of truth and fable, which gives a lifelike picture of the times,
but as it has been already printed it is too long to quote. The
story relates that John le Strange, lord of Knockin and Ruyton,
who was always on the King's side, did much damage to the
people of the Prince [of Wales]. The Prince therefore caused
Ruyton to be demolished by Fulk Fitz Warin, and imprisoned
John's men ; John complained to the King, who sent Sir Henry
de Audley with 10,000 knights to help John to avenge himself.
A fight ensued in the neighbourhood of Middle, in which le Strange
was struck in the face and marked for life by Fulk's lance. Fulk
had but 700 knights against the 10,000 on the other side, and
therefore could not win the day. He retired to Oswestry, where
he made great lamentation on account of Sir Audulph de Bracy,
one of his knights who had been captured and imprisoned by the
King, who was at Shrewsbury. A certain John de Rampaigne,
who had ' great skill with tambour, harp, viol, cithern and jugglery,'
undertook to free de Bracy. He disguised himself as a black
minstrel, rode to Shrewsbury, and obtained access to the King's
presence, averring that he had come from Ethiopia on purpose
to see the most renowned prince in Christendom. He was welcomed

1 Rolls Series, vol. Ixvi. 355-8. See also History of Fulk Fitzwanne, ed. by Thos.
Wright, pp. 104-112.

JOHN LE STRANGE (II) 69

by the King, and made much minstrelsy during the day. After
the King had retired for the night, Sir Henry de Audley ordered
de Bracy, whom the King intended to slay on the morrow, to be
fetched, so that he might have a good night of it before his death.
They conversed and made music, and de Rampaigne began a song
which Sir Audulph used to sing, which enabled the latter to re-
cognise the disguised minstrel. More wine was called for, and de
Rampaigne served the cup, into which he threw a powder that
caused them all to fall asleep. The minstrel and de Bracy then
knotted the towels and sheets which were in the chamber and
escaped through a window overlooking the Severn, and got safely
to Fulk Fitz Warin at Oswestry.

The historical facts that may be gathered from the above
are : (i) that Ruyton Castle was destroyed by the Welsh during
the war of 1202, and this perhaps led to the building of Knockin
Castle ; and (2) that John le Strange was on the King's side and
high in favour with him. The sequence of events is certainly
not historical ; King John was not at Shrewsbury soon after
the capture of Ruyton by the Welsh, for he was absent in Nor-
mandy between May 1201 and December 1203. The numbers
of knights said to have been engaged are of course impossible,
but one would like to believe that the account of John le Strange
having been wounded in the face and marked for life in some
border fight had some foundation in fact. Mr. Lloyd-Kenyon,
in his account of the borough of Ruyton, says : *

There is nothing to show that the le Stranges who held the manor of Ruyton
the whole of the 13th century ever rebuilt the castle, and it is not mentioned in
the Fine of the manor levied in 1299 ; but the le Stranges sold the manor to their
suzerain, Edmund Earl of Arundel, soon after his accession to the title in 1301,
and if the castle was then in ruins he must have rebuilt it, for it was certainly
in existence in 1313, when the service of half the manor of Great Withyford was
returnable at Ruyton Castle.

John le Strange seems to have made a deer-park at Ruyton,
for about the year 1195 he effected an agreement with the abbot
of Shrewsbury for adding a corner of the abbot's wood of Birch
' extending from the place where the le Strange Park fence came

1 Trans. Shrop. Arch, and Nat. Hist. Soc., iii. (2nd Series), pp. 237-8.

70 LE STRANGE RECORDS

down to the water of Peverec, to the end of his meadow on the
side of Plettebrug mill ' ; for this he was to pay the abbot a rent
of one doe yearly. 1 A few years later he gave Ruyton mill to
Haughmond Abbey, ignoring the previous grant of the same by
his father. Another eleemosynary gift of one of his predecessors
confirmed by him was that made by his uncle Hamo of land in
Betton-Strange to Haughmond. 2 John was present at Salop
Assizes in 1203, as the Assize Roll of 5 John shows that he became
surety for certain fines incurred by Alan de Petraponte. 3

The Pipe Roll of 1203 shows that John le Strange fined
60 marks in that year to have the custody of the manor of Wrock-
wardine, which had been held for a short time by his younger
brother Hamo ; this arrangement was nominally continued on
the Sheriff's accounts for many years, but, practically, John
was year after year excused payment of the rent as a reward
for his services : Wrockwardine was, however, only held by
him subject to the King's pleasure. 4 We shall see later on that
this grant was enlarged into a freehold.

It must have been about this time (1204-10) that Reyner,
Bishop of St. Asaph, bought from John le Strange the whole
township of Willcot, a member of Ness, at the enormous price
of 70 marks, in order that he might bestow it upon the hospital
which he was founding and richly endowing at Oswestry. The
grantor stipulated that, after Bishop Reyner's death, the mill
and vivary of Willcot should revert freely to the grantor or his
heirs, and that a rent of one bezant, or two shillings, should be
paid to him. Not long afterwards John le Strange confirmed
an arrangement with the canons of Haughmond that they should
have the hospital estate at Willcot on condition of their providing
and maintaining a chantry within the walls of the hospital. 5 It
was also about this period, and after he had acquired Knockin
from his cousins, the heirs of Guy, that, by his second grant to
Haughmond, he gave to that abbey one-fourth part of his vill of

1 Eyton, x. 113. * Harl. MSS. 446; Quatern. xi. fo. 4. 8 Eyton, i. 213.

4 Eyton, ix. 21 ; Cal. Rot. Chart, and Inq., 5 John, p. 196 ; Rot. de Liberate, 5 John,
p. 101.

Eyton, x. 285 ; Haughmond Chartulary, fo. 1616, tit. Oswaldestre.

JOHN LE STRANGE (II) 71

Cheswardine, and a right of common throughout his demesnes
there ; also the whole land of Norslepe, with the upper vivary
near his castle of Knockin.

King John, after the murder of Arthur of Brittany, and his
marriage with Isabella of Angouleme, was condemned by Philip
Augustus to forfeit his French dominions. Philip promptly in-
vaded them, and annexed to the French Crown not only the
Duchy of Normandy, but also Maine, Touraine, and Anjou ;
John made no attempt to retain or recover them, but retired to
England in December 1203. The Patent Rolls show that when
the King was at Worcester, on March 16, 1204, he sent a safe
conduct by the Bishops of Bangor and St. Asaph, William fitz
Alan, John le Strange, and others to Llewelyn Prince of North
Wales for going and coming to confer with us.' 1 In the follow-
ing year John le Strange is mentioned in the Roll of 6 John for
Leicestershire as having removed from the lands of Roger de
la Zouche at Ashby 16 cattle, 4 cows, and 9 hogs, valued at
4 6s. 2 ; this foray was made in the interests of the King's vengeance
on Roger de la Zouche, who had renounced his allegiance after
the murder of Arthur. A charter of John le Strange's of this
period to Haughmond Abbey acquits and frees the abbot's land
of Balderston of Guards dovemnt (de satellitis doverantibus)
for ever ; that is, that the land should be free from any contri-
bution for the maintenance of such officers. Eyton thinks that
they were a kind of manorial police. 3 They are mentioned again
in another charter of John's of about the same date, whereby he
allows that the land of Robert Hert, of Teddesmere, shall be quit
of Guards doverant for ever. 4 John le Strange apparently held
some land in Leicestershire, as, in the seventh year of John, we
find that Robert Fitz Norman of Ipswich sued a writ of mort
tfancester for three parts of a knight's fee in Shanketon (Shang-
ton, near Leicester) against ' Johannem Extraneum qui feodum
illud tenet.' 5

The period of John's reign from 1205 to 1213 was mainly
occupied by his quarrel with the Pope concerning the appoint-

1 Rot. Lit. Pat., 1201-16, fo. 1835," p. 39. Rot. Norm, in Turr. Lond. i. 139-

3 Eyton, x. 73. Ibid. xi. 3. Rot. de Oblatis et Finibus, p. "360-

72 LE STRANGE RECORDS

ment of Stephen Langton to the see of Canterbury. The King,
who had alienated the affection of nearly all his subjects, was ulti-
mately forced to acknowledge the papal pretensions, and, in order
to obtain removal of the interdict, he even surrendered his crown
to the Pope, and agreed to hold it in fee by an annual payment
of one thousand marks. During these disgraceful years the name
of John le Strange seldom appears, but it is evident that he did
not take sides with most of the barons against his sovereign.
The King endeavoured to neutralise the effect of the interdict
by expeditions against the rebels in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
On October 8, 1208, a treaty with the Welsh was negotiated at
Shrewsbury, whereby King John, on receipt of twenty hostages,
enlarged Gwenwynwyn, then his prisoner, John le Strange being
one of the witnesses to the bargain. 1 Three years later there was
again war on the Marches ; John invaded Wales in 1211, pene-
trated to Snowdon, and forced Llewelyn to submit and give
hostages ; on a fresh outbreak next year John had all these
hostages hung, but was deterred from proceeding further, as his
own daughter, Joan, wife of Llewelyn, conveyed information to
him that the barons intended to betray him to the enemy. Eyton a
gives numerous instances of the trust reposed in le Strange by the
King. On May 25, 1212, the constable of Oswestry was ordered
to send by le Strange's hand to the King the moneys received
from the sale of the King's stores there. 8 On July 6, the King
ordered John not to proceed with the sale, but to replace all
that had been already sold, and to hold them with other stores
ready to be sent anywhither as he might be directed. 4 There are
further orders in August and September of the same nature. It
appears from the Close Rolls that John le Strange had received
32 for the sales which he had already made at Oswestry, and a
further sum of 28 from the burgesses of Shrewsbury for some
stores which they had disposed of there. Le Strange employed
his eldest son John, who now appears for the first time in public
life, to convey the sum of 60 to the King, who was then in Not-
tinghamshire ; John the younger executed the mission, and the

1 Eyton, vii. 244 ; Rymer, i. 101. * Ibid. x. 268-9.

Rot. Lit. Claus. i. p. 1176. Rot. Lit. Claus. i. p. 1196-

JOHN LE STRANGE (II) 73

receipt shows that he paid in the whole sum, representing some
2500 at the present day, to the King in his chamber at Kings-
haugh on August 24, I2I2. 1

The castle of Carreghova, built mainly for the protection of
the silver-mines of Richard I, had been lost to, and won back from,
the Welsh more than once ; on June 10, 1213, John le Strange
was appointed by patent castellan thereof, but this is the last
mention of it that Eyton can find ; * the mines were abandoned
as unprofitable, and the castle was probably dismantled or de-
stroyed during the Welsh wars of Henry III.

On September 24, 1213, Thomas de Erdington was ordered to
let William de Ferrers, Earl of Derby, have four pigs, which John
le Strange had fed for his own use (ad opus suum)* The Close
Roll of the next year contains a list of those who had to pay
scutage for the King's invasion of France in his fruitless attempt
to recover his lost territories ; Johnle Strange stands excused ' quia
filium suum habuit in Pictavia.' * On August 18, 1214, the King
wrote from Angouleme to Llewelyn, Gwenwynwyn, and other
Welshmen, with whom a truce had been made, to say that he was
sending to them John le Strange and Robert Corbet, that they
might swear for the King's faithful observance of the truce ; 6
evidently in the Middle Ages the royal word by itself was not
accepted as being worth much.

The Rolls contain two curious entries with regard to an un-
named niece of John le Strange. On September i, 1214, the
King wrote from Parthenay, in Poitou, to Peter de Maulay :

Mittimus etiam ad vos nepotem Johannis Extranei que fuit cum domina
Regina, mandantes quod earn ponatis cum matre vestra, et equum et harnesium
ejus. Et equum et harnesium predicte Fillote nobis remittatis per Gilebertum
de Saues. 6

The Pipe Roll 7 shows that Hugh fitz Robert, Chief Forester
of Salop, had been excused a fine of 30 marks because, at the
request of the King, he had taken to wife the niece of John le

1 Rot. Lit. Claus. i. pp. 134, 184, 203.

* Eyton, x. 359 ; Rot. Litt. Pat., 1201-16, i. Pt. I, 1206.

3 Rot. Lit. Pat. i. Pt. I, 100. Rot. Lit. Clans., 1204-1224, i. 201.

6 Rot. Lit. Pat., 1201-1216, i. Pt. I, 1206. Rot. Lit. Clans, i. pp. 171, 178-

" 1 6 John, Salop.

74 LE STRANGE RECORDS

Strange. Eyton suggests x that she was probably a natural
daughter or a discarded mistress of that licentious monarch : it
certainly looks as if there were some special reason for that hurried
journey from Poitou.

We now come to the important year 1215, when the barons
of England extorted the great charter of their liberties from the
vacillating fears of King John. The name of John le Strange
does not appear among those of the other barons who were forced
into antagonism with their sovereign, and obliged him to acknow-
ledge their rights ; even in this last extremity le Strange remained
faithful and loyal to his liege lord. About Easter in that year
the King had written to Thomas de Erdington, Sheriff of Shrop-
shire, to inquire what knights of that county had borne arms
against the Crown during the late disturbances. The Sheriff
could only find four who had remained true to their allegiance.
His answer ran in these significant words :

Omnes milites et alii de eodem comitatu per aliquod tempus contra vos in hac
guerra . . . exceptis Hugone de Mortuomari, Waltero de Lacy, Waltero de
Clifford, et Johanne Extraneo qui vobiscum sunt et fuerunt in guerri ista.

King John broke every promise contained in Magna Charta
as soon as it was written, and the last year of his life was occu-
pied by rapid marches throughout the whole kingdom, ravaging
and destroying, with the help of foreign mercenaries, every town
and castle that he could reach. During July and August of 1216
the western provinces suffered from the storm of his fury. On
July 27 he destroyed the castle of Hay, and that of Radnor on
August 2 ; he passed through Shrewsbury to Oswestry, where he
remained from August 6 to 10, and reduced the town to ashes ;
on the nth he was back at Shrewsbury, and finally quitted Shrop-
shire on the i6th. On July 25 the King had made a grant to John
le Strange of the manor of Kidderminster, to be held during
pleasure ; 2 on September 5 the King, then at Oxford, sent a
writ to the earls, barons, and knights of Stafford and Salop to
inform them that he had appointed John le Strange to the custody
of those counties as sheriff. 3 This sheriffdom he did not hold

1 viii. 267. * Rot. Clans, i. 278.

Rot. Lit. Pat., 1201-1216, i. Pt. I, 1966.

JOHN LE STRANGE (II) 75

long, if indeed the exigencies of the time permitted him to exercise
the duties at all ; for the Earl of Chester, who himself had only
been appointed to it in the preceding month, soon resumed it.

Happily for the realm which he had misgoverned King John
died at Newark on October 19, 1216, of an illness aggravated by
the loss of his treasure and regalia in the estuary of the Wash, and
was succeeded by his son Henry, a boy of ten. John le Strange
was one of the barons present at the council held at Bristol on
November n, 1216, to meet the new King and his guardians, on
which occasion Magna Charta was confirmed, with certain altera-
tions, giving it a somewhat less popular character.

The earliest document issued in the name of the new King to
John le Strange was a writ of January 3, 1217, to him and his
bailiffs of Shrewsbury, ordering them not to interfere with the
right of collation to prebends in the church of St. Mary at Shrews-
bury, which had been granted by King John to the Archbishop
of Dublin. 1 That prelate was Henry de London, who had been
Dean of St. Mary's, Salop, since 1203, and had been allowed to
hold that dignity with his archbishopric.

In May 1215 Fulk de Oiry, who held quarter of a knight's
fee under John le Strange at Ercall, joined the short-lived dis-
affection of the Earl of Albemarle, so le Strange took advantage
of his tenant's rebellion to seize his lands ; but on March 5, 1216,
Fulk gave hostages and fined 500 marks for the King's favour,
and, as a result, John le Strange was ordered on January 5, 1217,
to restore Ercall to Fulk de Oiry. 2

John le Strange, though he had not sided with the barons
against King John, must have steered his course in those troublous
waters with considerable judgment, for he not only escaped their
enmity, but even received marks of favour from the leaders of
the party who ruled the counsels and spoke in the name of the
young King. The Close Rolls show that on October 20, 1217, he
had letters of exemption from scutage in the counties of Norfolk,
Suffolk, and Shropshire ; 3 and that on March 16, 1218, the King

1 Pat. Rolls, Hen. Ill, 1216-1225, p. 18 ; Cal. of Doc. rel. to Ireland, Hen. III.
p. 112, No. 734.

1 Rot. Lit. Claus., 1204-1224, i. 2950. Rot. Lit. Claus. i. 3716.

76 LE STRANGE RECORDS

sent a mandate from Worcester to the Sheriff of Shropshire and
Stafford directing him to give an ' aid ' from those counties to John
le Strange to enable him to fortify his castle of ' Cnukin.' l Henry
III was then at Worcester for the dedication of the cathedral.
On March 25 a mandate was issued to Hugh de Mortimer, Henry
de Aldithelegh (Audley), and John le Strange, to give safe conduct,
both in going and returning, to the magnates of North Wales,
who were coming to Worcester to do homage to the King. 2 There
was apparently some hitch about the matter, probably due to the
death of Hugh de Mortimer, who was killed at a tournament at
Worcester, for another Patent was issued on April 24 to Walter
de Lacy, Henry de Aldithelegh, John Fitz Alan, and John le
Strange, ordering that two at least of them should personally
conduct all those Welshmen, sent by ' Lewelinus princeps Nor-
wallicz ' to Worcester to do homage to the King on Ascension Day
(May 24) . 3 The dedication of the cathedral took place on June
7, and the Annales Prior atus de Wigornid show that among the
barons present with King Henry was John le Strange, ' et aliorum
nobilium multitudine infinitd.' 4 During the same year John had
got into some quarrel and had apparently resorted to force, for
on May 25 a royal writ to the justices of the King's Bench informs
them that the King has given leave to W. de Huntingefelde, Henry
Luvet, and John le Strange to make agreement concerning an
appeal against John for breach of the peace. 5

The Patent Rolls for 1219 contain an entry, dated July 22,
by which 'Johannes Extraneus junior' with three others is ordered
to hold an Inquisition of the Forests within Shropshire at Shrews-
bury, for the purpose of inquiring what essarts i.e. land brought
into cultivation by grubbing up roots have been made without
warrant since the King's coronation. 6 Perhaps in connection
with this duty we may regard an entry in the Close Rolls for the
next year, where John le Strange and Thomas de Cotentin are
informed that the King has granted to the citizens of Shrewsbury
as many oaks from the forest near that town as are required ' ad

1 Rot. Lit. Claus. i. 3356. * Pat. Rolls, Hen. Ill, 1216-1225, p. 142.

3 Annales Monastici, iv. 409. * Ibid.

'' Rot. Claus. i. 3626. Pat. Rolls, 1216-1225, p. 213.

JOHN LE STRANGE (II) 77

duos rogos 1 faciendos in auxilium mile Salopie claudende ' ; they
are ordered to report how many are taken, and the King was
careful to send a writ in like terms to the Sheriff of the county.*
In connection also with this may probably be read a writ of July I,
1220, whereby the abbot of Shrewsbury and John le Strange
were directed to continue in office the ' xij servientes qui consti-
tuti fuerint ad custodiendas partes Salopesbiry.' 8 To the same
period belongs an undated charter preserved among the records
of the town of Shrewsbury, 4 by which Thomas son of Robert
Corbet sold to John le Strange the elder, and the whole community
of the borough, all the land and buildings therein which formerly
belonged to Robert Bishop of Bangor : it has a broken seal, showing
the Corbet raven.

During this period, 1219-34, it becomes increasingly difficult
to distinguish between the two John le Stranges, father and son ;
in many instances the latter is obviously intended, although the
designation junior is not appended to his name.

To the year 1220 Eyton attributes a deed whereby :

John Extraneus, lord of Knockin, for the soul's health of himself and King
John, concedes to the Priory of Wombridge all the right he had by reason of his
manor of Wrockwardine, in that land, wood, and pasture which the illustrious
King Henry (II) did concede to the Priory.

At this date John was only fermor of Wrockwardine, hence his
use of the qualifying words, ' all the right he had/ 5

A Longnor deed, assigned by Eyton to the year 1221, 6 is
witnessed by three le Stranges : ' Domino Johanne, Domino
Johanne filio suo, et Hamundo Extraneo/ Hamon was the second
son of John, of whom later. In September of this year the King
marched into Wales, raised the siege of Builth, and built a new
castle at Montgomery.

A writ, under date May n, 1223, from the King to the Treasurer,
orders the latter to pay out of the Treasury to John le Strange
20 marks as a gift towards the expenses of fortifying his castle

1 Piles of wood. * Rot. Lit. Claus. i. 417-418.

8 Pat. Rolls, 1216-1225, p. 240.

* Hist. MSS. Comm., MSS. of Corp. of Shrewsbury and Coventry, p. 69.

8 Chartulary, tit. Lega Prioris, No. 9 ; Eyton, x. 23. Eyton, vi. 53.

78 LE STRANGE RECORDS

of ' Cnokin.' 1 This gift, and the auxilium granted five years
previously, show the importance attached to Knockin as a frontier
fortress against North Wales. During the year 1224 Gwenwynwyn
had been co-operating with the le Stranges ; on May 21 the Barons
of the Exchequer gave an account of certain moneys paid to these
barons ' in aid for their sustenance in our service.' *

Early in 1225 Magna Charta and the Charter of the Forests
were again confirmed by Henry, who was now about nineteen
years of age, and a fifteenth of all movables in the kingdom was
granted to him to enable him to recover the English possessions
in France. The money collected for this tax in Stafford and Salop
was ordered to be sent to Gloucester under conduct of the Sheriff
and six others, the last named being John le Strange, junior. 3 On
January 7 of that year the King gave a grant to John le Strange,
empowering him to have a market on Friday in each week at his
manor of Hunstanton, and a mandate was issued to the Sheriff
of Norfolk to carry this into effect : * more substantial recognition
of his services was made to him during the course of the next few
years.

On August 27 Llewelyn met King Henry at Shrewsbury to
satisfy certain Lords Marcher in respect of lands of theirs which
he had seized, and le Strange was one of the barons appointed to
confer with Llewelyn and to report ; he was specially charged
to be present, and to send an account in writing to the King of
what was determined on. 5 At Christmas he was further named
as one of the arbitrators to settle the variances which had arisen
between William Pandulf and Madog ap Griffith. 6

We have seen 7 that since 1203 John le Strange had held the
farm of the manor of Wrockwardine during the King's pleasure, and
that a yearly rent of 12 was due for it. This rent was seldom paid,
and was often remitted in consideration of the expenses to which
John was often put in providing for the King's service. He was
excused entirely in 1204 and 1205 ; in 1209 he owed 48 for four
years' arrears, of which he was excused one half. The accounts

1 Rot. Lit. Claus. i.~545a. * Rot. Lit. Claus. i. 6020.

Ibid. ii. 746. * Ibid. ii. lift. 8 Ibid. ii. 154-5.

Ibid. ii. 206. 7 Supra, p. 70.

JOHN LE STRANGE (II) 79

for the next few years are not regularly kept, and for 1215-1217
there are no entries at all. At Michaelmas, 1226, his arrears
amounted to 163, besides 12 for the current year's farm. 1 The
subjoined translation from the Close Rolls shows that not only
did the King forgive him the whole debt, equivalent to 7,875
to-day, but also bestowed the manor on him rent free during
pleasure :

29 August 1226. SALOP.

The King to his Barons of the Exchequer. Know ye that, on account of the
faithful service which John le Strange, senior, did to King John our father in his
time, and to us in our time, and on account of the great expenses which at the
aforesaid times he had, and for the losses suffered by him in the service of our
father and ourselves, we have pardoned to the said John the debt which was
demanded of him by our Exchequer for the farm of the vill of Wrockwardine from
the time of our father, when that vill was in the hands of John himself from his
bailiwick, and afterwards from our time. We also grant to him that he shall have
the said vill with its appurtenances to sustain him in our service during our plea-
sure. And therefore we command you to cause the said John to be acquitted of
the said debt, and that you should allow him to hold the said vill as aforesaid. 2

This grant, to be held during pleasure, was enlarged two
years later into a grant for life, by a Close Writ dated May 17,
1228.* It is also entered on the Patent Rolls of the same date,
wherein the grant is stated to be made ' pro bono et fideli servicio
quod dilectus et fidelis noster Johannes le Estrange fecit domino
J. regi, patri nostro et nobis.' 4 A grant for life however, was, as
Eyton points out, 5 of small value to John le Strange, who was
then upwards of seventy years of age ; but, three years later, the
King further enlarged the gift to his faithful old servant : the
Charter Rolls of May 25, 1231, contain a grant to ' John le Estraunge '
the younger and his heirs of the manor of Wrockwardine to hold
by rendering yearly the farm of 8 by his own hand at the
Exchequer, quit of all tallages. 6 It is clear from these documents
that the grant of the manor of Wrockwardine was at first to
be held only during pleasure, that it was subsequently enlarged
to one for life, and, finally, was granted to John junior and his

1 Eyton, ix. 21. * Rot. Lit. Claus., ii. 1350.

' C.Cl.R., 1227-1231, p. 50. * C.P.R., 1225-1232, p. 189.

Eyton, ix. 22. C.Ch.R., 1226-1257, * J 3 2>

8o LE STRANGE RECORDS

heirs, to be held during the lifetime of his father in fee, by which
arrangement he escaped the necessity of paying relief for the
manor on his father's death.

On August 28, 1228, John le Strange and three others were
. appointed justiciaries to hold an assize at Shrewsbury concerning
a suit between Adam de Bessin and Ralph de la Lawe about the
exaltatione cujusdam stagni. The Chartulary of Lilleshall Abbey
contains a transcript of a deed, the original of which is at Trent-
ham, which Eyton * assigns to about this date ; it is a confirma-
tion by John le Strange, junior, of a grant to the canons of that
place, made by his father, of a virgate of land in Webscott, a
member of Middle ; it is rubricated in the Chartulary as having
been given ' domui de Lilleshull pro morte cujusdam hominis ' ;
i.e. it was a sort of composition or atonement for some act of
homicide.

In the year 1230 Henry III made an attempt to recover some
of the French provinces which his father had lost ; he crossed
over to Brittany in May with a large force, and marched through
Anjou to Poitou and Gascony, where he received the homage
of the people, returning to England in October. On this expedi-
tion he was accompanied by John le Strange, junior, as is shown
by letters of protection (which insured the immunity of his estates
from claims on behalf of the Crown during his absence) granted
to him by the King at Portsmouth on April 20 ; they state that
' in servicium nostrum nobiscum ad partes transmarinas profectus
est ' 2 ; similar letters were granted on June 15 to ' Rogero Spreng-
hoese, qui est cum Johanne Extraneo.' 3

Early in the year 1232, viz. on January 23, the King assigned
John le Strange and John Fitz Alan to receive satisfaction from
Llewelyn for infractions of the truce ; 4 a later entry makes it
clear that it was the son, not the father ; for on February 20
the King wrote to Llewelyn that he had lately sent John Fitz
Alan and ' Johannem Extraneum junior em' to obtain satisfaction
from the Welsh prince. 5 Two more entries of December of this
year in all probability relate to John the younger ; on the iyth of

1 Eyton, x. 26. * Pat. Rolls, 1225-1232, pp. 357-8. * Ibid. p. 380.

Close Rolls, 1231-1234, p. 127. 6 Close Rolls, 1231-1234, p. 127.

JOHN LE STRANGE (II) 81

that month a mandate was sent to ' John le Estraunge ' to deliver
the son of Eineon Vychan (or Vaughan) in exchange for certain
hostages ; 1 and on the 23rd he had another mandate to release
certain other hostages of William de Braosa. 2 John le Strange
had probably been appointed constable of Montgomery Castle when
the King quarrelled with Hubert de Burgh in 1232 ; at any rate
it was in his keeping in the following year, for on June 15, 1233,
the King sent a mandate to him from Worcester to deliver the
custody of the castles of Montgomery and Sneth to William
de Boeles. 8

The above is the last entry that I have found relating to John
le Strange (II), or to his son during his father's lifetime. Eyton 4
places the father's death as c. 1237-38, basing his deduction from
an entry in the Originalia Roll of those years, whereby the son
stipulates ' in the King's presence to satisfy the King touching
his Relief according to the judgment of the King's Court ' ; but
evidence has, since Eyton's time, come to light which proves that
he died at least three years earlier.

My attention was called in March 1909 by Miss Florentia
Herbert to a document which she had found while writing a his-
tory of Wrockwardine. 5 This was a Close Roll of 18 Hen. Ill,
m. 31, showing that John le Strange did homage for the lands
which his father held in chief. This I was at once able to confirm
by the printed Close Rolls of Henry III, 1231-1234, pp. 369-370,
published in 1902. The entry there states that, on January 20,
1234, the King took the homage of John le Strange for the lands
and tenements of which John his father was seised on the day of
his death ; and there is a mandate to the Sheriff of Shropshire
ordering him to cause the said John to have full seisin of these
lands, inasmuch as the King has pardoned him the Relief due
therefrom. We may therefore place the close of the long life of

1 C.P.R., 1232-1247, p. 6.

2 Close Rolls, 1231-1234, p. 175. Mem. Up to 1232 the Patent Roll, and up to
1242 the Close Roll of Henry III is printed in full. After those dates the references are
to the Calendars thereof.

3 C.P.R., 1232-1247, p. 18. * ix. 23 ; x. 270.

5 Transactions of the Shropshire Archcsological Society, 3rd Series, x. pp. 201-248,
and xi. pp. 191-231.

82 LE STRANGE RECORDS

John le Strange (II) as having occurred at the end of 1233, or the
beginning of 1234. He must have been about eighty years of
age, for sixty of which he had been in public life ; the trusted
servant successively of Henry II, Richard Coeur-de-Lion, John,
and Henry III ; he never wavered in his staunch allegiance to
each of them ; faithful even to King John when almost all his
other vassals rebelled against him. John le Strange served his
sovereign loyally, yet in such a manner as to preserve the respect
of his fellow barons, and to retain and even to increase the authority
which, by common consent, was committed to him on the Welsh
border. Like his father, he was open-handed in his donations
to the Church, especially in association with his suzerains, the
fitz Alans. The researches of Eyton show how much the monas-
teries of Shrewsbury, Lilleshall, Wombridge, and, above all,
Haughmond profited by his liberality. If not actually the founder
of Knockin Castle, he was the first to make it a stronghold of
importance, and to take his territorial designation from it ; he
increased the family possession by many acquisitions in Shrop-
shire, and, in addition to the original fiefs of his House there and
in Norfolk, we have seen that he acquired land in other counties,
such as Leicestershire and Somersetshire. All through his long
life, a prominent Marcher baron, he served in no foreign expeditions
himself, but in his old age sent his eldest son to Poitou to help in
recovering the lost provinces of the Crown ; and he handed on
to that son the tradition of strenuous service and unbroken loyalty
which justified the confidence placed in him and his race by
successive sovereigns of the House of Anjou.

1 have already mentioned l the name of John's wife as cited
by him in his grant of the church of Holme to Lilleshall Abbey,
made ' pro salute anime mee et anime Amide uxoris mee.' Eyton
cites, without giving reference, another deed, whereby John gives
' for the sustentation of the poor at the gate of Lilleshall Abbey
the chapel or church of Sanketon, with the body of Amicia his
wife, when she shall have gone the way of all flesh/ z This is all
the mention of her which has come down to us ; Eyton confesses
his inability to trace her parentage, 3 but dispels the obscurity

1 Supra, p. 61. * Eyton, x. 267. 3 Ibid. x. 270 and n.

JOHN LE STRANGE (II) 83

in which Dugdale and Blomefield had involved both her and her
husband, by reducing the two first John le Stranges to one person,
and confusing Amicia, wife of John (II), with his grandmother,
whose name we have seen l was not Amicia, or Martia, but Matilda
le Brun.

HAMON LE STRANGE, SON OF JOHN LE STRANGE (I).

John (II) had three brothers, Hamon, Ralph, and William.
Of these Hamon was probably the next in age to John, since he
appears as an attesting witness to one of John's earliest charters,
namely, the confirmation by the latter of their father's grant of
the church of Cheswardine to Haughmond Abbey, ' teste Hamone
fratre Johannis Extranei ' ; this must have passed immediately
after John's succession in nyS-yg. 2 During the next thirty years
Hamon frequently attested his elder brother's charters. Between
1186 and 1210 he witnessed John's gift of a virgate of land in
Kinton, a member of Ness to Haughmond. 3 Both brothers
attested the grant by William fitz Alan (II) of certain privileges
to his burgesses of Oswestry, about 1190-1200.* As ' Sir Hamo
the grantor's brother,' he witnessed John's grant as ' dominus
de Knokyn ' of the new chapel of Knockin to Haughmond Abbey,
c. H97-I200. 5 Between 1204 and 1210 he attested Bishop
Reyner's confirmation of the grant by Ralph le Strange of Knockin
Chapel to the same abbey. 6 We find the names of both brothers
as the first witnesses to a curious deed, which Eyton places at
about I2OO, 7 whereby Griffith ap Gervase Goch granted fishery
rights at Ellardine to William de Hadley ; Griffith reserved,
for himself and his heirs, the personal right of fishing with their
own nets, but William was to find a boat. Another grant to
Haughmond of land in Linley by Roger de la More, between 1200
and 1210, is attested by John and ' Hamo his brother.' 8 Between
1203 and 1206 they witnessed an exchange of land between

1 Supra, p. 5. z Eyton, x. 30. s Ibid. x. 284.

4 Harl. MSS. 1981, fo. 24. 6 Haughmond Chartulary, fo. 132.

6 Ibid. fo. 131. 7 Eyton, ix. 240. 8 Haughmond Chartulary, fo. 141.

G 2

84 LE STRANGE RECORDS

Geoffrey Fitz Reginald and Haughmond Abbey at Longnor,
between Shrewsbury and Church Stretton. 1 Hamon's name
appears as attesting a composition regarding some litigation at
Longnor, which Eyton dates as having been made out of Court
soon after the Salop Assizes for 1221. 2

In the year 1200 Hamon le Strange became for a time lord of
Wrockwardine. It appears that he had been enfeoffed by King
John, before his accession, in the Leicestershire manor of Foston,
which grant did not hold good when John came to the throne.
Hamon, therefore, in the year 1199, fined 40 marks with the King
to have the serjeanty of the forest of Lancaster as an equivalent. 3
This also fell through, but in the following year the Rolls show
that Hamon made a fresh fine of 60 marks, 4 in return for which
he received the manor of Wrockwardine, which Maurice de Powis
formerly held, with its stock and implements, until such time as
the King should make him a fair exchange out of his escheats, either
for Wrockwardine, or for that manor which the King had granted
to him before his accession. For this fine his brother John
became security. 5 This arrangement only lasted about two years,
as we have seen 6 that, in 1203, John became lord of Wrockwardine
during pleasure, so we may presume that the King had found an
equivalent for Hamon elsewhere.

Eyton makes out 7 that another Hamon, son of John
le Strange (II), and consequently nephew of the above Hamon,
was living at this period, but the evidence for his existence seems
to me inconclusive. It is mainly based on a deed cited by Eyton
as having lately been in the possession of Mr. George Morris of
Shrewsbury, a quit-claim, dated in October 1227, from Reginald
de Thirne to William de Hedleg ; 8 it is witnessed, among others,
by Sir John le Strange, Sir John le Strange son of John le Strange,
and Sir Hamo, brother of the same ; it appears to me very doubtful
whether this means that Hamon was brother of John (II) or
John (III), and we have no evidence that Hamon who held

1 Haughmond Chartulary, fo. 141. * Eyton, vi. 53.

8 Rot. de Obi. et Fin. temp, regis Joh., p. 14.

4 Rot. Cancell. vel Antigr. magn. Rot. Pipes, 3 John, p. 127. * Ibid. p. 60.

6 Supra, p. 84. 7 Eyton, ix. 82-83 ; x. 270. 8 Eyton, ix. 82.

JOHN LE STRANGE (II) 85

Wrockwardine in 1200 was not alive in 1227 ; at all events his
elder brother John (II) lived for six years after that date.

RALPH LE STRANGE.

The existence of Ralph, brother of John (II), is established
by two deeds. The first, printed in Dugdale's * Monasticon/ l is
a grant of Wentnor mill to Buildwas Abbey by Thomas Corbet
of Caus, which is attested, among others, by John le Strange
and Ralph his brother, by Adam de Arundel (who was deceased
in 1199), and by Fulk fitz Warin (III), who succeeded his father
about 1197 ; Eyton therefore places the date of this charter at
about 1198. The second mention of Ralph occurs in a deed, cited
by Eyton as between 1186 and I2io, 2 whereby John le Strange (II)
gave to Haughmond Abbey a virgate of land in Kinton, the witnesses
being William fitz Alan, Hamon le Strange, and Ralph le Strange.
The following may possibly refer to the same individual : the
'Testa de Nevill ' has an entry among the fees of John fitz Alan in
Warwickshire and Leicestershire, 'In Stretton dimidium feodum
quod heres Radulphi Extranei tenet de eodem Johanne ' ; 3
there are several places named Stretton in each of the above
counties. A Suffolk Fine of 13 Hen. Ill [1228-29] was levied
by a ' Radulphus le Esstrang ' against Peter Marescal in
Ingham. 4

MARGERY LE STRANGE.

The only daughter of John (II) and Amicia, of whom any
mention has come down to us, Margery, whom Eyton shows to have
been the wife of Ralph de Pichford, and that they had a daughter,
Burgia, who married Nicholas de Wililey ; 5 in support of this he
cites an undated deed : 8 ' Whereby Nicholas de Willilegh, with the
assent and will of Burgia his wife, sells to Sir John le Strange
all that land in the vill of Lucam [Litcham, in Norfolk], which the

1 v. 358, No. vii. * Eyton, x. 284.

8 Testa de Nevill, p. 96. 4 Suffolk Feet of Fines, by W. Rye, p. 29.

8 Eyton, vi. 273. 6 Glover's Collection, A, fo. nift.

86 LE STRANGE RECORDS

father of the said John gave for the frank-marriage of Ralph de
Pichford with Margery his daughter/ Ralph de Pichford occurs
1221, and he died in I252. 1

JOHN LE STRANGE OF RODE, SOMERSETSHIRE.

A writ of December 12, 1229, transcribed in the Close Rolls, 2
shows that a John le Strange was a member of the household of
Hubert de Burgh, the justiciar, who was still governing the king-
dom in the young King's name ; it states that the King has com-
mitted ' Johanni le Estrango, vadleto H. de Bur go* to hold during
pleasure a hide of land at Rode, Somersetshire, which Robert de
St. John previously held of the King's bail of the lands of the
Normans. This land had come into the King's hand because a
certain lady named Christiana, who then held it, had killed her
husband, Bernard, and had fled from justice. The Charter Rolls
of the next year 3 show that the King had enlarged his gift by
making it for John's life instead of during pleasure only, and that
he added a proviso to the effect that if he restored this land to
the original grantee, he would make it up to John by giving him
an equivalent in wardships or escheats. Who was this John ?
It can scarcely be John (III) of Knockin ; we shall see that he
was already a knight before 1229, and it is not likely that a person
of his age and dignity would be even Hubert's vadletus. More-
over, if he had been Hubert's follower, he would hardly have
got Montgomery after the fall of the justiciar. I am indebted to
Professor Tout for pointing this out to me, and for the suggestion
that this grantee must be another and humbler person, otherwise
unknown, unless he be the John le Strange, of Fransham in
Norfolk, of whom later.

WILLIAM LE STRANGE.

The third brother of John (II) was named William, and of him
there is rather more frequent mention, perhaps because he was

1 Eyton, vi. 270. * Close Rolls, 1227-1231, pp. 273 and 318.

8 C. Ch. R., i. 124.

JOHN LE STRANGE (II) 87

in Holy Orders. He was returned at the Salop Assizes of 1221 1
as holding the church of Alveley of the value of 30 marks, having
been presented thereto by Henry II. He must therefore have
held it for thirty-three years at least. The manor of Alveley, it
will be remembered, had been given by the same king to William's
uncle, Guy le Strange, c. H55, 2 who may have procured the bene-
fice for his nephew. The prebend of Alveley was one of two stalls
between which the manor of Eardington had been divided when
that manor had been granted by the Norman earl, at the time
of Domesday, to his prebendal or collegiate church of Quatford,
afterwards transferred to Bridgnorth, and erected into a Royal
Free Chapel, the collegiate body of which was appointed by the
King ; with this particular stall was associated the church of
Alveley, whose incumbents held this dignity. I have already
mentioned 3 that ' Master William le Strange, the grantor's
brother,' attested the gift by John (II) of the church of Holme
(near Hunstanton) to Lilleshall Abbey c. 1178. About the year
1190 William is mentioned in the Salop Chartulary as restoring
certain land to the church of Oswestry through William fitz
Alan. 4 The Pipe Roll for 1189-90 contains an entry, under Dorset
and Somerset, to the effect that, on the plea of Hugh Bardolph
and his companions, William le Strange admitted a debt of 35. 4^.
which he had formerly denied. 5 There is no other evidence of
any connection of the prebendary with those counties, so it may
be a different individual of the same name, and this possibility
applies to one or two subsequent mentions of William which I
shall cite. William ' Extraneus ' witnessed a grant of c. 1190 by
Hubert de Rushbury to Hugh de Beckbury, the first witnesses
to which were William fitz Alan, his lord, and William and John,
sons of the said William. 6 A few years later the same Hugh de
Beckbury had a grant of all their land at Golding from Ralph,
abbot of Haughmond and the Convent, the first witness whereof
was John le Strange. 7 It was undoubtedly William, the son of
John (I), who, in conjunction with his brother, witnessed the grant

1 6 Hen. Ill, m. 9 dorso ; Eyton, i. 120. * Supra, p. 28. Supra, p. 61.

4 Salop Chartulary, No. 3026; Eyton, x. 343. Pipe Roll, i Ric. I, p. 150.

Hist. MSS. Commission, MSS. of Lloyd Gatacre, Esq., p. 437. 7 Ibid. p. 438.

88 LE STRANGE RECORDS

by Ralph le Strange of Alveley of the patronage of the chapel of
Knockin to Haughmond Abbey. 1

The Assize of Middlesex of 1198-99 mentions Matilda, sister
of William Lestrange, as holding in fee an acre of land at West-
minster, 2 but affords no information by which we can identify
this William.

The Shropshire Assize Rolls for October 1203 3 record that
Christiana, late the wife of Richard de Constantin, was adjudged
to have unjustly disseised William le Strange of his free tenement
[the prebend] in Eardinton ; she was fined one mark, and five
shillings damages, and William recovered seisin. He held the
benefice until 1223 ; the Patent Roll of that year shows that on
January 7 William de Harecurt had letters of presentation thereto
from the King, the church being vacant by the resignation of
William le Strange. 4 There seems to be some doubt as to whether
the resignation took effect then, as, at the Salop Assizes in October
1227, William le Strange is presented as holding the church of
Alveley ; 5 and in the following year the Patent Rolls contain
a grant from the King, on the resignation of William le Strange,
maternal uncle (avunculus) of John Germun, clerk, to the said
John, of the prebend which William had held in the chapel of
Bruges (Bridgnorth), with the proviso that, so long as William
lived, he (John) should receive annually from the said William
two bezants by way of pension from the said prebend. The
constable of Bridgnorth Castle was ordered to give full seisin to
John, he receiving yearly the two bezants for the life of William. 6

Another ecclesiastical dignity held by William was the deanery
of St. Mary's at Shrewsbury. 7 He is mentioned as such in a
deed in the Haughmond Chartulary (tit. Colnham), which also
records the fact that he was married. At the Council of West-
minster, held in 1102, Anselm had enforced celibacy on the clergy,

1 Haughmond Chartulary, fo. 131 ; Eyton, x. 367.

2 Rot. Cur. Reg., 6 Ric. I-i John ; i. 213.

3 5 John, memb. 4 recto, and Trans. Shrops. Arch, and Nat. Hist. Soc., N.S.,
xi. 248. * C.P.R., 1216-1225, p. 363.

5 Assize Roll, incorporated in Testa de Nevill, p. 54 ; Eyton, i. 120.

6 C.P.R., Hen. Ill, 1216-1225, p. 198.

7 Owen and Blakeway's Hist, of Shrewsbury, ii. 325.

JOHN LE STRANGE (II) 89

and assimilated the rules of the English Church to that of Rome ;
1 From that time until the reign of Edward VI clerical marriages
were contrary to ecclesiastical law, though they were common
enough in fact, and often connived at by authority.' l The Haugh-
mond deed shows that Alan le Poer, lord of Wollascote, with
consent of Amicia his wife, gave to her son John (a clerk) a barn
in Shrewsbury which Master William, Dean of St. Mary's, and
father of John's mother Amicia, had given in frank-marriage
with her son to Alan, John's father. 2

William possessed some house property in Shrewsbury, as is
shown by a charter belonging to the corporation of that town ;
it is a grant 3 from ' Magister Willelmus Extraneus films Johannis
Extranei ' to Lilleshall Abbey of a messuage next to the church of
St. Julian in Shrewsbury, reserving to himself and his successors
probably, that is, to the Deans of St. Mary's an annual rent of six-
pence. The deed is undated, but two of the witnesses are ' Ricardo
le Vilain et Willelmo filio Willelmi tune prepositis,' who are,
apparently, the earliest provosts of Shrewsbury on record. 4

There are several other entries concerning William le Strange
in the Chancery Rolls during the period from 1224 to 1236, but
it is doubtful whether they refer to the Dean of St. Mary's or to
some other individuals. I subjoin them for what they are worth,
and must leave my readers, if I have any, to draw their own
conclusions.

On November 4, 1224, Henry III granted to William le Estrange
two carucates of land in Medburn, Leicestershire, which William
de Fougeres held, and later Roger Orget, to sustain him in the
King's service during pleasure. 5 The Barons of the Exchequer
were notified, on March 5, 1227, that the King had pardoned
William le Strange 405. which he had been fined by the justices
in Eyre in Leicestershire for trespass. 6 From an entry in the
Close Rolls of July 27, 1228, it looks as if this William must have
died before that date. The King wrote to the Sheriff of Leicester

1 Wakeman's Hist, of the Ch. of England, 6th ed., 1899, p. 102. * Eyton, x. no.
1 Hist. MSS. Commission, MSS. of the Corporations of Shrewsbury and Coventry,
p. 69. ' Owen and Blakeway's Hist, of Shrewsbury, i. 523.

5 Lit. Claus. ii. 40. ' Ibid. ii. 1740.

90 LE STRANGE RECORDS

that Robert fitz William had shown him that, at the time when
William le Strange held certain land in Medburn, a certain virgate
thereof had fallen into the hand of the said William, who after-
wards demised it as his escheat to Robert to be cultivated and
sown ; and inasmuch as the King had lately taken this land of
Medburn into his own hand, the Sheriff was to allow Robert to
take the corn which he had sown in the said virgate. 1

A writ, dated at Shrewsbury on December 9, 1232, grants to
William le Estrange an exemption from being put on recognitions,
juries, or assizes for two years from Christmas next. 2

The ' Testa de Nevill ' contains a scutagelist of the igth Hen. Ill
(1234-35) for Somerset and Dorset, in which the following entry
appears : ' De xvj solidis et viij denariis de Willelmo Lestrange in
Hoke de uno feodo Morton.' 3 This must refer to the same William
as is mentioned in the Pipe Roll for 1189, quoted above. 4

In the 2Oth Henry III (1236), William le Strange fined a mark
to the King for having a record of an assize which Robert Maunsel
and his wife Mabel had against him concerning the diversion of
a watercourse in Sanketon ; 5 we have seen that Sanketon church
was the property of John le Strange (II), and had been given by
him to Lilleshall Abbey. 6

The Close Rolls contain another pardon, granted on October 26,
1236, to William le Strange for 405., exactly similar in terms to
that which had been granted to him eight years before. 7

The British Museum contains an undated deed whereby
John - ew of Estwalton grants to Roger le Strange, of the same
place, an acre of land abutting on land of William le Strange,
who is among the witnesses to the grant. 8

A writ of November 27, 1233, from the King at Hereford to
the Sheriff of Bedford, directs him to imprison William fitz
Godwin and Ailneth' Hert, suspected of the death of William le
Strange through hatred and envy (odio et athia). 9 This proves

1 C.Cl.R., 1227-1231, p. 69. * C.P.R., 1232-1247, p. 4.

3 Testa de Nevill, p. 169. * Supra, p. 87.

6 Excerpt, e Rot. Fin., Hen. Ill ; i. 310. Supra, p. 82.

7 C.Cl.R., 1234-1237, p. 326. B.M. 56, B 2.
9 C.Cl.R., 1231-1234, p. 345.

JOHN LE STRANGE (II) 91

that we are dealing with at least two Williams, since we have just
seen that another of the name was alive in 1236.

HENRY LE STRANGE.

Henry le Strange, of whom mention occurs several times during
the first half of the thirteenth century, is difficult to identify,
and here again there may be more than one individual of the
name. A Henry le Strange was one of the witnesses to the grant
of John (II) to Robert Hert about Guards Doverant, c. 1205,
and Eyton assigns no place to him. 1 Henry le Strange attests
a charter of Agnes de Brocton, which Eyton dates between 1210
and 1224 ; 2 also one of William de Begesoure granting a virgate
of land in Brocton to Ralph de Sanford. 3 Henry le Strange himself
granted to the same Ralph two acres in Brocton, and this deed
has a well-executed seal 4 (of which Eyton gives an engraving),
bearing the legend: 'SIGILL HENRICI FILI RADULFI+,' surrounding
a lion passant to the sinister ; this proves that the grantor was
the son of some Ralph le Strange, but of which ? Ralph of
Little Ercall had only one son, Roland, who died v.p., and was
succeeded by daughters ; Ralph of Alveley died s.p. in 1195, and
it is hardly likely that one of the Norfolk Ralphs, of Litcham,
held property in Shropshire of which there is no other mention.

Henry le Strange also occurs as a witness to the following
charters : a grant from Philip de Burwardesley to Ralph de
Sonforde of a virgate in Brocton, dated by Eyton as from 1220
to 1230 ; 5 a grant of land in Wunedon from William Russell to
Ralph de Sanford, c. 1225 : * a deed of Griffith de Sutton (whose
wife was Matilda, daughter of Guy le Strange of Alveley) granting
rents to Wombridge Priory : ' a deed of Madoc, son of the above
Griffith, enfeoffing Ralph de Sanford in an acre in Brocton, which
Henry le Strange held in the Hemme : 8 and six more deeds
relating to land at Brocton, c. 1220-1235. 9 Henry was also
one of eighteen defendants in a suit, brought at Westminster in

1 Eyton, xi. 3. * Ibid. ii. 102. * Ibid. ii. I25.

4 Ibid. ii. 125, note 68. 8 Ibid. ii. 15. Ibid. ii. 94*1.

7 Ibid. ii. H5n. 8 Ibid. ii. 118. Ibid. ii. 125, I26n., 129, 130.

92 LE STRANGE RECORDS

Michaelmas term, 1242, by John de la Lawe, for robbery and
breach of the peace. 1

Of other le Stranges who occur during the period under dis-
cussion there is mention as follows :

AGATHA LE STRANGE.

On January 15, 1229, Agatha le Strange, mother of G. de
Turville, Archdeacon of Dublin, had letters of protection for a
year ; 2 and on February 8, 1233, Agatha Extranea had exemp-
tion from suits of counties and hundreds respecting all her
demense lands, for three years from Easter next. 3

An Agatha Extranea and her sister Sibilla are mentioned in
the 'Testa de Nevill,' 4 under Warwickshire and Leicestershire, as
holding a fee in ' Wulf richest on ' under John fitz Alan.

ALAN LE STRANGE.

Among some notes in the British Museum (? in Camden's
handwriting), from the Register of Haughmond, is mentioned an
undated charter of John, son of John le Strange, witnessed ' Alano
Extraneo.' 5

HORMUS LE STRANGE.

Eyton 6 cites a charter of John le Strange (II), passed, he
thinks, about 1209, by which he gave land in Cheswardine to
Haughmond Abbey. The witnesses to this deed are William fitz
Alan, John his son, Hormus le Strange, Warin de Burwardsley,
and William de Lankes, whose name, Eyton thinks, is probably
miswritten. I very much suspect the same as to Hormus. I
have never come across such a name, and venture a suggestion
that it is a mistake for H envious le Strange of Brocton, whose

1 Eyton, ii. 117. Placit. apud. Westm., 26 Hen. Ill, memb. n.

* Pat. Rolls, Hen. Ill, 1225-1232, p. 235. 3 C.P.R., 1232-1247, p. n.

4 P. 96. 5 B.M., Lansdowne, 229, fo. 103^. to io$d. * x. 31.

JOHN LE STRANGE (II) 93

name occurs more than once in testing clauses associated with
a Burwardsley.

HUGH LE STRANGE.

Hugh le Strange, together with Henry, attested the charter
of John (II) about Guards Doverant. 1 In the Pleas of the Forest
of 3 John, Hugh le Strange appears as paying los. for having
custody of Lye, a berewick or member of the extensive manor
of Morville, Salop. 2 The Shropshire Assize Roll of October 1203
records a Grand Assize whereat Hugh le Strange, of Felton, near
Knockin, was plaintiff touching forty acres of land in Erdiston.
Both parties were put out of court by William fitz Alan, who
came and proved that the land was in his Hundred, and owed
no suit at the County Court of Salop. The name of Hugh le
Strange occurs twice as a member of the Grand Assize. 3

JOHN, SON OF RALPH LE STRANGE.

A John, son of Ralph le Strange, occurs in 1229, whom I take
to be John of Litcham, in Norfolk, as the writ in the Close Rolls,
dated April I, is directed to the sheriff of that county ; it orders
him to pay to John le Strange annually during pleasure 4, which
Simon fitz Richard used to render yearly to Walerand de Bygar,
a Norman, for a carucate of land in Bucgeton' (? Buxton), as long
as the said Walerand remained in fealty and service to the King,
which the King afterwards committed to Warin de Jermem', who
is dead. 4 The grant itself is given in the Charter Rolls. It states
that the rent of 4 is to be held by John le Estrange, son of Ralph
le Estrange, as freely as the said Walerand held it, until the King
restore it to the heirs of the said Walerand of his free will, or by
a peace. 5 John, son of Ralph of Litcham, was alive in 1293, when
he enfeoffed his son John, and Clementia his wife, in the Hundreds
of Launditch and South Greenhoe, so it makes him to have had
an extremely long life if the John, son of Ralph, who was old

1 Supra, p. 71. * Rot. Cancell. vel Antiqr. magn. Rot. Pipes, p. 126.

8 Trans. Shrop. Arch, and Nat. Hist. Soc., xi. N.S., p. 249.

* Close Rolls, Hen. Ill, 1227-1231, p. 165.

* C. Ch. R., Hen. Ill, 1226-1257, i- P- 97-

94 LE STRANGE RECORDS

enough to receive a grant from the King in 1229, is the same
individual, yet I know of no other of that name and parentage
at that period.

LE STRANGE OF FRANSHAM.

A family of le Stranges, designated as of Fransham, was
settled at that place, between Dereham and Swaffham, from the
early part of the thirteenth century onwards. A number of
undated deeds from the Castleacre Chartulary, mostly relating
to Fransham, and printed by Carthew, 1 are witnessed by Roger
le Strange, often in conjunction with Ralph le Strange, whom I
believe to be the son or the grandson (both were named Ralph) of
Durannus le Strange of Litcham : Roger may have been another
grandson, brother of the second Ralph. Both Ralph and Roger
are styled Dominus. In one deed, to which Roger is the first
witness, he is accompanied by ' Ricardo rufo nepote suo.' It
has been mentioned in the last chapter 2 that Ralph took sides
with the barons against King John, but was received into favour
by Henry III on his accession ; the same thing also happened
in the case of Roger ; there is a writ among the Close Rolls of
1217, from the King to the Sheriff of Norfolk, stating that Roger
le Strange has come to fealty and service of the King, and should
have letters Close of Protection. 3 An early Fine of May 10, 1206,
supplies the name of Roger's wife. It relates to 18 acres of land
at Gissing, which Alice, the wife of Roger le Strange, claimed
as dower in right of her first husband, Simon de Franche-
ville ; Roger and Alice, by their attorney, Nicholas le Strange,
granted this land to Roger Gulafre, to be held by him at a yearly
rent of I2^. 4 On March 2, 1219, we find Felicia, widow of Adam
de Welles, quit-claiming, for a payment of four marks and a half,
30 acres of land in Lavingham to Roger le Strange. 5 A few
years later the ' Testa de Nevill ' (1236) has the following entry :

Feoda de Ry que Alicia Mariscalla tenet. Agnes Leuvise, Thomas films

1 Carthew, i. 130-133. 2 Supra, p. 50.

3 Rot. Lit. Claus., 1204-1224, i. 3736.

* P.R.O. Feet of Fines, 7 John, Case 154, File 25, No. 323.
5 Ibid, 3 Hen. Ill, Case 155, File 35, No. 41.

JOHN LE STRANGE (II) 95

Baldewin, Rogerus le Estrange, et Reginaldus de Dunham, unum feodum militis
in Scheringham, Wanton et Walton de eadem. 1

By a Fine, dated at Lynn, on February 28, 1240, Alan le Rus
of Litcham granted to Roger le Strange a messuage with 14
acres of land and 4^ of meadow in Westwinch, the latter paying
yearly to Alan a pair of white gloves (unum par albarum
cyretecarum) , or a half -penny, as rent.*

Among the muniments of the Corporation of King's Lynn is
a grant, printed by Carthew, 3 from Alicia, widow of Eudo Arsic,
who died September 17, 1241, of land at Dunham to Guywood
Hospital, which is attested by Roger le Strange of Fransham.

One of the undated Castleacre charters, an exchange of land
between the monasteries of Castleacre and Westacre, is tested by
' Eudone Extraneo ' and ' Roger o filio suo.' * It is difficult to place
this father and son. The name of Guy does not occur, so far as
I am aware, among the Litcham le Stranges, from whom I suppose
the Fransham family to be descended. Guy of Alveley died, as we
have seen in the last chapter, 5 in the year 1179, leaving only one
son, who survived him, viz. Ralph, who died without issue in 1195,
when his estates passed to his three sisters, so he could not have
had a brother then surviving.

In 1242 a John le Strange appears as holding land at Snoring,
between Fakenham and Wells in Norfolk. By a Fine of Novem-
ber 3 of that year he acknowledged 90 acres of land there to
Basilia de Naringes (Snoring) for her life, with proviso that after
her decease they were to revert to John and his heirs. 6 The next
document cited shows that this John was the son of Roger of
Fransham. A Fine of August 29, 1244, between John son of
Roger and Beatrice his wife, v. Roger le Strange himself, acknow-
ledges certain land in Little Fransham to Roger for his life, which
is afterwards to revert to John and Beatrice and their heirs ;
and Roger undertakes that he will not give away, sell, or alienate
the said land. 7

1 Carthew, i. 82.

P.R.O. Feet of Fines, 24 Hen. Ill, Case 156, File 65, No. 798.

3 i. 163. Ibid. i. 129. 6 Supra, p. 40.

P.R.O. Feet of Fines, 27 Hen. Ill, Case 157, File 69, No. 878.

7 Ibid., 28 Hen. Ill, Case 157, File 69, No. 882.

96 LE STRANGE RECORDS

An undated charter in the British Museum carries the pedigree
one generation further : Alexander son of John le Strange of
Fransham grants to Thomas son of John, son of the parson of
Rougham, for the sum of 505., three pieces of land lying in the
fields of Rougham, with liberty to sell or assign them to anyone
except to religious houses. 1 The first witness is ' Domino Petro
Romano de Rucham,' and Blomefield gives Peter de Romayn as
Rector of Rougham c. I26o, 2 which approximately dates the
charter ; this is confirmed by another witness, William de Bress-
ingham, who, according to the same authority, 3 was lord of the
manor of Brisingham in 1259. Alexander le Estrange occurs
a few years later as one of the jurors at an inquest held in the
Hundred of Launditch, Norfolk, during the 3rd year of Edward
I (1275) ; 4 these jurors were bound to be residents in the Hundred.
The inquest relates to the manor of Mileham, and it has been
shown by Eyton, 5 and also by Carthew, 6 that the finding of the
jury as to the descent of Alan fitz Flaald contains serious errors.
The name of Alexander le Strange occurs again as one of the
jurors at an inquisition held at Dereham on July 19, 1299, on the
death of Jordan ffoliot of Gressenhall. 7

The subjoined pedigree is deducible from the above :

LE STRANGE OF FRANSHAM

Roger le Strange = Alice, widow of Simon
de Franckeville ; occ.
1206.

Richard rufus.

John le Strange, occ. 1242, = Beatrice

1244 ; held land at
Snoring.

occ. 1244.

Alexander le Strange = * * *
occ. c. 1260, 1275,
and 1299.

1 B.M., Harl. Charters, 56 F. 22. 2 Blomefield, vi. 18.

3 Ibid. i. 57. * Rot. Hundr. temp. Hen. Ill et Edw. I, i. 4340. s vii. 211.

6 i. 9. 7 Inq. p.m., 27 Edw. I, No. 49. Printed in Carthew, i. 202-7.

JOHN LE STRANGE (II)

Here, for the present, the line of the Fransham le Stranges
breaks off ; we shall see that some more of the family reappears
at the same place during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.

SIMON LE STRANGE.

The Patent Rolls of April 26, 1233, contain a pardon to John,
son of Geoffrey de Gipeswico [Ipswich], of his abjuration of the
land for the death of Simon Lestrange, on condition that he should
stand his trial if anyone will proceed against him. 1

1 C.P.R., 1232-1247.

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CHAPTER IV

JOHN LE STRANGE (ill)
1234-1269

JOHN LE STRANGE (III) must have been about forty years of age
when he did homage for his lands to King Henry III on January 20,
I234. 1 He could hardly have been less than nineteen or twenty
when, as mentioned in the last chapter, 2 he was employed on
August 24, 12 12, to convoy to King John the sum of 60, the
proceeds of stores sold by the King's orders at Shrewsbury. Two
years later, viz. in 1214, we have seen 3 that he was with King
John in Poitou, helping in the attempt to recover the lost con-
tinental provinces ; and in 1219 4 he was ordered to hold an
inquisition of the Shropshire forests at Shrewsbury. At this
period, as his father grew advanced in years, it is often difficult
to feel sure whether mention of John le Strange refers to the
father or the son, but it is probably the latter who, early in 1225,
was one of six knights deputed to escort to Gloucester the pro-
ceeds of a tax of a fifteenth from Staffordshire and Salop. In 1230
John le Strange junior is expressly mentioned as being with
Henry III in Brittany, Anjou, Poitou, and Gascony, 5 when the
King took the fealty of the nobles of those provinces. We have
also seen 6 that, by direct grant from the King, he had become
lord of Wrockwardine during his father's lifetime. On February 20,
1232, the younger le Strange was sent with John fitz Alan to

1 Supra, p. 81. * Ibid. p. 72.

1 Ibid. p. 73. * Ibid. p. 76.

Ibid. p. 80. Ibid. p. 79.

99 H 2

ioo LE STRANGE RECORDS

Llewelyn to obtain satisfaction for infractions of the truce. 1 During
the lifetime of his father, and according to Eyton 2 probably about
1227 or 1228, the son confirmed his father's grant to Oswestry,
with remainder to Haughmond Abbey, of the township and mill
of Willcot, cited in the last chapter. 8 To the same period belong
several undated charters, preserved in the Chartulary of the
priory of Wombridge, near Wellington, Salop. We have seen
that towards the close of his life John (II) had procured from the
King a grant in fee of the manor of Wrockwardine to his son, 4
viz. in the year 1231. Shortly after this ' John le Strange tercius,
son of John le Strange/ concedes to Wombridge Priory ' the
donation which his father had made in the bosc of Wombridge. 5
Another deed, which Eyton considers to be nearly contemporary, 6
relates to the same grant, and mentions the name of John's wife :
' John le Strange tercius, for the soul's health of himself, his
wife Lucia, and his father, gives to the Priory all such assarts 7
and boscs as it possessed by concession of his father.' Lucia
was the daughter of Sir Robert Tregoz, of Lydiard Tregoz, Wilt-
shire, and lord of Ewyas Harold, Herefordshire, by Juliana,
daughter of William Lord Cantelupe, by Millicent, daughter of
Hugh de Gournai, and widow of Almeric, Count of Evreux. 8 The
name of his wife is mentioned again in another undated deed,
quoted by Blomefield, by which John, son of John le Strange,
and Lucy his wife gave to the abbot of Lilleshall their right of
patronage of the church of Holme-next-the-Sea, in Norfolk. 9

The Close Rolls contain several entries showing the service
of John (III) about this period. On December 23, I232, 10 a man-
date was sent to him to release certain hostages. On Septem-
ber 3 of the following year he appears as surety for the faithful
service of Galfridus de Baucis; 11 and on July i, 1234, a mandate
issued to him, in conjunction with John de Monmouth, Henry de
Audley, Thomas Corbet, and John fitz Alan, to take possession

1 C. Cl. R., 1231-1234, p. 122. * Eyton, x. 286.

3 Supra, p. 70. * Supra, p. 79-

5 Eyton, ix. 23 ; Chartulary, tit. Lega Prioris, No. 9.

6 Ibid. No. 10. 7 Land cleared for tillage.
8 Nichols, Topogr. and Genealogist, ii. 130. Blomefield, x. 332.

18 C. Cl. R., 1231-1234, p. 175. " Ibid. p. 258.

JOHN LE STRANGE (III) 101

of the castles on the Marches now in the hands of Peter de Rivaux,
to lay siege to them if necessary, and to give them to ' Waleranum
Teutonicum/ so as to avoid the risk of their falling into the hands
of the King of France or other the King's enemies. 1 These trans-
actions relate to the King's quarrel with Hubert de Burgh, in
place of whom he had made des Roches, Bishop of Winchester,
his chief counsellor, and by his advice had garrisoned the castles
with Poitevins, des Roche's countrymen, and other foreigners.
The custody of the castle of Montgomery had been conferred on
John le Strange in 1232, but on June 15, 1233, he was ordered
by the King, then at Worcester, to deliver it to William de Boeles. 2
A Patent of February 6, 1234,' shows him as having custody
of a hostage required by the Crown from his own suzerain, John
fitz Alan.

Richard, Earl of Pembroke, Earl Marshal, and other nobles
had remonstrated with the King, and, being repulsed, had made
a league with Llewelyn with the object of driving out the Poitevins ;
they obtained some successes over the King at the end of 1233 and
early in 1234, an d Henry was persuaded to dismiss des Roches
and his Poitevins. On July 7, 1234, a truce to endure for two
years was made at Mudele (Middle)

between the King and all his men, on the one part, and Llewelyn Prince of Aber-
fraw and Lord of Snowdon, and all his men and adherents, Welsh, and any others
he had in the beginning of the war, called the war of Richard Marshal Earl of
Pembroke, on the other part, to wit, that as well the King and his men, as the
said Llewelyn and his men, should be in the same tenements, &c., as they were at
the beginning of the war, without being impleaded during the truce, amends to
be made for anything forfeited in the meantime. No new castle shall be streng-
thened, or ruined one restored in the March during the truce, and lands shall be
common according to form of former truce. There have been sworn on the
King's soul that this truce will be observed Master John le Blund, Henry de
Audley, John le Strange, and Henry Bagod. 4

A mandate was issued to John le Strange and three other
commissioners to proceed, at the day and to the place which
Llewelyn should appoint, to conduct his son David to pay homage
to King Henry.

1 Royal Letters, Hen. Ill, i. 446 ; Rot. Claus., 18 Hen. Ill, memb. 17.
1 C.P.R., 1232-1247, p. 18. Ibid. p. 39. * Ibid. iii. 59.

102 LE STRANGE RECORDS

At Michaelmas, 1235, John appears again in office as constable
of Montgomery, with a salary of 200 marks a year, one-fourth
of which had recently been paid by the Sheriff of Shropshire.
He had probably been dispossessed by the revolted barons in
the King's name under the Earl Marshal, and had been restored
to office after the suppression of the rebellion. The same Sheriff
had bought four ox-teams for 12, and transferred them to the
constable ; they were destined to till the King's demesne at
Montgomery. The Close Rolls of November 3, 1235, contain a
notification, addressed to John as constable of Montgomery, that
the King, in the presence of the Archbishop of Canterbury and
his fellow bishops, had ordered tithe to be levied on hay
and mills throughout the kingdom ; le Strange was therefore
directed to render such tithe henceforth to the church of
Montgomery. 1

The Patent Rolls of 1236 contain a grant, dated July 9, at
Tewkesbury, to John le Strange, constable of Montgomery, of pro-
tection from all lawsuits so long as he continues to be constable
of that castle. 2 Another entry, dated two days later, ratifies a
truce for one year between the King and Llewelyn, sworn to by
John le Strange and two others. On March 6 previous le Strange
had been associated by the King with the Bishop of Hereford,
the Prior of Wenlock, and others, to act as arbitrators as to the
compensation to Llewelyn, Prince of Aberfraw, and Morgan of
Caerleon for the aggressions made against them during the truce
by the Earl of Gloucester as regards the castle of Caerleon. 3 The
award was made on the morrow of the close of Easter (i.e. the
Monday after the first Sunday after Easter) at Montgomery ford
over the Severn, a mile below the thirteenth-century castle. It
is worthy of note that in this and similar documents the King
never acknowledges Llewelyn as Prince of Wales, but always
styles him Prince of Aberfraw, or lord of Snowdon.

On October 24, 1236, le Strange was appointed to the office
of Sheriff of the counties of Salop and Stafford ; 4 and in conse-
quence of this the retiring sheriff, Robert de la Hay, was, on

1 Close Rolls, Hen. Ill, 1234-1237, p. 203. * C.P.R., 1232-1247, p. 153.

Close Rolls, Hen. Ill, 1234-1237, p. 342. * C.P.R., 1232-1247, p.' 161.

JOHN LE STRANGE (III) 103

November 14, ordered to deliver over to him custody of the King's
castles of Bridgnorth and Shrewsbury. 1

Under the designation of Johannes Extraneus de Hunestaneston
he is returned in the Pipe Roll for the 20th of Henry III, as owing
loos, for disseisin i.e. an unlawful ejectment ; but a mandate in
the Close Rolls, dated December 8, 1236, directs the Sheriff of
Norfolk to give him respite of this amercement until the octaves
of St. Hilary next ensuing. 2

The truce with the Welsh prince had only been made for one
year, but in June, 1237, negotiations for its prolongation were
on foot. Successive Kings of England had not been able to effect
any lasting conquest in North Wales, where they were frequently
beaten back ; they contented themselves with receiving a nominal
homage, which spared them the disgrace of appearing to accept
defeat, but gave them no effective control over the country.
Llewelyn the Great, though he had married King John's illegiti-
mate daughter Joan, did not allow this to stand in his way ; he
seized his opportunity when England was weak and divided by
dissensions between the Crown and the barons, and by allying
himself first with one side and then with the other, made his
power felt right down to southern Wales, and created a sense of
national unity which had been previously wanting, and which
was taken up by his grandson in the reign of Edward I. 3

On June 15, 1237, notification was sent to David, the King's
nephew, son of Llewelyn, that, in consequence of the death of
the Earl of Chester, the King had directed Henry de Audley to
stay in Chester, and had appointed John le Strange in his place
to conduct David to Worcester. 4 On the following day the King
wrote to Llewelyn that le Strange and others would conduct his
envoys from Shrewsbury to Worcester to meet the King there
on midsummer day. 5 The meeting, however, was postponed, in
consequence .of the King having to go to Dover to meet the legate ;
a mandate was sent to John le Strange, on July 16, that he need
not come, as Henry de Audley, whose place he was to have taken

1 C. Cl. R., 1234-1237, p. 391. 2 Ibid. p. 401.

8 See The Welsh Wars of Edward I, by John E. Morris, 1901.

* C.P.R., 1232-1247, iii. 6. C. Cl. R., Hen. Ill, 1234-1237, p. 537.

104 LE STRANGE RECORDS

was coming in person. 1 The legate whom Henry had gone to
meet was Cardinal Otho, invited by the King, much to the dis-
content of both clergy and laity. All classes were suffering under
the intolerable exactions of the papal see ; the country was
flooded with foreign ecclesiastics, who occupied many of the best
benefices ; grievous burdens, amounting at one time to a third
of the revenues of English benefices for three years, were laid on
the clergy, and the laity were harassed by the growing practice
of carrying lawsuits to the Courts at Rome : moreover, the revenues
of the State were seriously diminished by the handing over of
large tracts of land to religious houses, which, to a great extent,
were free from the burdens that the laity had to bear. These
discontents had been aggravated since the marriage in 1236 of
the King with Eleanor of Provence, whose foreign relations and
followers were enriched at the expense of Englishmen by the
imprudent generosity of the King.

To return to the Welsh Marches. It is evident that during the
winter of 1237-38 there had been frequent infractions of the truce,
and that the aggressions had not all been made by the Welsh.
On March 8, 1238, Letters Patent were directed to Henry de
Audley and John le Strange, ordering them to go, on the Saturday
before mid-Lent, to meet Amaury de St. Amand, the King's
Steward, and to make amends to Llewelyn for attacks made on
him and his people ; 2 these three were directed by a further
mandate, dated on the following day, to proceed to Montgomery,
where they were to inquire into and settle infractions of the truce ;
Llewelyn was also informed of their mission and its purpose. 3
Further instructions were given to le Strange that, whereas it was
expedient to be prepared against the assaults of Llewelyn, he was
to provide for the sufficient defence of the March, so that the
lands of the King and his own may not suffer ; and, if necessary,
he was to resist Llewelyn. It proved, however, to be unnecessary
at that moment to proceed to extremities, and the Rolls of July 8
contain a notification of the prolongation for a further year of
the truce with Llewelyn, for observance whereof Henry de Audley
and John le Strange had sworn. The peaceful issue of these

1 C. Cl. R,, Hen. Ill, 1234-1237, p. 542. * C.P.R., 1232-1247, iii. 235.

* Ibid. p. 212.

JOHN LE STRANGE (III) 105

protracted negotiations argues some diplomatic ability on the
part of John le Strange, in addition to his administrative and
military capacity.

It is to this period, or shortly after it, that Eyton 1 refers an
undated deed, which shows that Margery, a daughter of John le
Strange (II), married Ralph de Pichford,and received as her marriage
portion some land in Litcham (Norfolk). The deed recites that
Nicholas de Willilegh, with the assent and wish of Burgia his wife,
sells to Sir John le Strange (III) all that land in the vill of Lucam,
Norfolk, which the father of the said John gave for the frank-
marriage of Ralph de Pichford with Margery his daughter. 2 The
pedigree, deduced therefrom by Eyton, is as follows :

MARGERY, = RALPH DE PICHFORD ;

dau. of John le
Strange (II.).

occ. 121 1 ; ob.
1252.

Nicholas de Willilegh, = Burgia de Pichford,

occ. 1231, 1241,
Defunctus 1255.

superstes 1259.

John le Strange (II) is named in the Testa de Nevill 3 as holding
-j and of a knight's fee in Litcham of John fitz Alan of the
fee of Mileham.

The Chartulary of the abbey of Ramsey in Huntingdonshire *
gives us a glimpse of Ringstead in the year 1240 ; a court baron
was held there on February 23, and among the presentments it
is mentioned that the church was in the gift of the abbot and
convent of Ramsey, and was built in honour of St. Peter. A
further entry states : 5

Nicholaus filius Praepositi tenet undecim acras. Dat unam gallinam ad
Natale pro habenda libera via ad aquam versus Hunestanestune cum siccitas
venerit.

Llewelyn the Great died on April n, 1240, and the English

1 vi. 273. * Glover's Collection, A, fo. nib, " p. 2896.

Cartularium monasteru de Ratneseia, ed. by W. H. Hart and P. A. Lyons ; Rolls
Series, 1884, i. 404. * Ibid. p. 405.

io6 LE STRANGE RECORDS

cause naturally gained ground for a few years on the removal
of so great a warrior. Everywhere the barons of the March
rebuilt the castles which had been destroyed by him. Civil war
broke out between his sons David and Griffith, and David, to
procure the assistance of the English king, agreed to do homage
for his lands ; he captured his brother Griffith and delivered him
to Henry, by whom he was imprisoned ; three years later the
prisoner was slain in an attempt to escape from the Tower of
London. The agreement between David and Henry was con-
cluded at Gloucester on October 16 ; all disputes w ere submitted
to arbitration, and David did homage to his uncle ; this arrange-
ment was tested by John le Strange amongst others. 1 David
was ordered to come to London to proceed to arbitration before
the papal legate, and if he could not come in person, to send
representatives with full powers ; he was informed that John le
Strange would give him safe conduct. 2 Two months later the
King's trust in le Strange was still further manifested, for on
December 6, 1240, he was appointed by patent to the custody
of the county and castle of Chester, 3 which John de Lexington
was ordered to deliver to him, as well as the castles of Beeston
and Halton in that county. His responsibilities were further
increased by the death of John fitz Alan (I) early in the same
year, as during the minority of his son, who came of age in 1244,
the issues of the manors and castles of Clun, Oswestry, Shra-
wardine, and Montford were in the hands of le Strange as Sheriff
of Shropshire. 4 His name appears in the register of the Priory
of Worcester for 1240 as paying 2S. rent : 5

Redditus Prioratus Wigornise.

De capella S. Oswaldi.

De Johanne Extraneo in dedicatione ijs.

Eyton points out 6 that the effect of the patent of December
3, 1240, was equivalent to appointing John le Strange to the high
office of Justice of Chester, and that in a palatine county such as

1 Rymer's Fcedera, i. 239-240 ; C. Cl. R., 1237-1242, p. 344.

1 C. Cl. R., 1237-1242, p. 344. 3 C.P.R., 1232-1247, p. 240.

4 Eyton, vii. 253 ; and Pipe Rolls.

5 Register of Worcester Priory, Camden Soc., 1865, p. 1086. 6 x. 271.

JOHN LE STRANGE (III) 107

Chester, the earldom of which was in the King's hands, the chief
representative of the earl held an office more analogous to that
of viceroy than to that of an ordinary sheriff. The calendar of
documents relating to Ireland 1 contains some interesting items
relating to le Strange while he held this office. In his accounts
for Christmas, 1240, he enters eight hogsheads of wine from Ire-
land sold at Chester. 2 On August 4, 1241, the King commands
John le Strange to cause to be conveyed to him at Salop the
porpoise (porpesium) which the King's Treasurer of Ireland sent
from that county to Chester. 3 We shall see, later on, that, as
late as the time of Henry VIII, a porpoise caught at Hunstanton
was esteemed as a dainty dish fit to send as a present to ' my lord
of Norwich.' A notification from the King, dated September 25,
1241, states that the Treasurer of Ireland had delivered to John
Strange, Justice of Chester, 1000 marks, treasure of Ireland,
which he was to deposit in the Tower of London. 4 A few days
later the Justice is ordered to receive six hogsheads of wine sent
by the good men of Dublin for the King's use, and three for that
of the Queen, and to convert them to the King's profit. 5 A
mandate was sent to the Treasurer of Ireland on June 3, 1244, to
pay to John le Strange, Justice of Chester, 600 marks to expedite
the King's affairs. 6 On June 10, 1244, the Justice is commanded
to cause sixty does and twenty bucks to be taken alive in the
parks nearest to Chester, and to have them sent to Dalkey, near
Kingstown, in Ireland, to stock the King's Park of Glencry. 7
Three days later he was ordered to cause Maurice Fitz Gerald,
Justice of Ireland, to have in the forest of Wirrall four stags and
six fallow deer of the King's gift. 8 Nor was John le Strange
himself forgotten with regard to these royal gifts of venison :
the Close Rolls of the period contain many writs, headed ' de cervis
datis,' directing Hugh Fitz Robert, Forester of Shropshire, to
supply le Strange with two, and often with three stags, out of
his bailiwick in the months of June or July. 9

1 Rolls Series, 1875. z Pipe Roll, 25 Hen. Ill, memb. 3, dorso.

3 Liberate Roll, 25 Hen. Ill, m. 6. 4 Pat. Roll, 25 Hen. Ill, m. 2.

8 Originalia, 25 Hen. Ill, m. 4. Col. Doc. rel. to Ireland, p. 397, No. 2667.

7 Liberate Roll, 28 Hen. Ill, m. 8. 8 Close Rolls, 28 Hen. Ill, m. 8.

* C. Cl. R., Hen. Ill, 1237-1242, pp. 71, 200, 317, 449.

io8 LE STRANGE RECORDS

The custody of the Lincolnshire manor of Bernoreby (? Barneiby)
had been given by the King to John le Strange on December 29,
1238, to be held by him during the minority of the heir of John
fitz Philip, of Bobbington, on the borders of Staffordshire and
Salop. 1 Later on the custody of all the lands of fitz Philip was
committed to him ; z he appears to have enjoyed them until about
the year 1247, but Eyton says that the exact duration of his
tenure thereof is uncertain. 3 A mandate was sent to the Sheriff
of Salop and Stafford on November 25, 1243, to distrain on John
le Strange, to make him give an account of the issues of the lands
of John fitz Philip which were in his custody. 4 As late as Michael-
mas, 1261, his debts to the Crown, long in arrear, included an item
of 153 4$. 4%d., a balance of an account of the issues of the lands
of John fitz Philip as rendered in I247. 5

In the early summer of 1240 considerable building operations
were undertaken by the King's direct orders at the castle of
Shrewsbury. On May 3 John le Strange was ordered to press
forward the works which he had already begun on the royal
chamber and other places there, and the King promised to pro-
vide for the costs thereof as soon as he should get to Gloucester. 6
Another mandate, dated May 18, directed le Strange to lay out
on the works of that castle one out of the 200 marks which had
been paid into his hands, and to hold the other hundred until
further orders. On July 4 he was told to hand over the second
hundred marks to the wardens of the works at the castle. 7 In
the autumn of 1240 John le Strange was living at Montgomery ;
on September 22 he was ordered to leave that castle in safe custody
and to go to Cardigan Castle with the Bishop of St. Asaph, John
of Monmouth, and Walter de Clifford, to hear and settle a dispute
which had arisen as to the lands belonging to that castle and those
of Maelgwm, son of Maelgwm. 8

There must have been further trouble on the Welsh Marches
during the winter 1240-41, for the Patent Rolls of the period

1 Excerpt, e Rot. Fin. Hen. Ill, i. 317. * Rot. Orig. in Cur. Scacc., i. 56.

3 Eyton, iii. 165 ; and Originalia, i. 5. * Excerpt, e Rot. Fin., i. 408.

6 Rot. Pip., 45 Hen. Ill, Salop.

6 C. Cl. R., Hen. Ill, 1237-1242, pp. 189, 191. * Ibid. p. 191.

8 Ibid. p. 242.

JOHN LE STRANGE (III) 109

contain several mandates to John le Strange, indicating that the
truce, which we have seen so frequently renewed, was but im-
perfectly observed. On January 8, 1241, he and Henry de Audley
were commissioned to conduct David, son of Llewelyn, and those
with him to the King at Worcester. Letters of Protection were
sent to le Strange on February 3 to conduct, either in person or
by one of his knights, Owen son of Hoel and other Welshmen,
who were coming to Worcester to speak with the King ; and on
March 5 further orders were sent to him to conduct David to
Shrewsbury, that the latter might do and receive justice for in-
juries committed by or against him. 1 The wording of this last
mandate implies some doubt at least as to which side had first
broken the truce.

John le Strange was so busily employed at this time that,
apparently, he had no leisure to make up and send in his accounts
as Sheriff of Shropshire and Staffordshire ; the Barons of the
Exchequer were instructed to accept, in lieu thereof, accounts
rendered by Philip de Pres and Walter de Kineley. 2

A curious understanding, affording evidence of the confidential
relations existing between the King and his trusty minister, is
embodied in a patent of February 13, 1241, 3 giving notification
that John le Strange, to whom the King has committed the castles
of Montgomery, Shrewsbury, Bridgnorth, and Chester, has sworn
on the Holy Gospels before the King, and bound himself by Letters
Patent, that in the event of the King's death he will deliver the
said castles to Eleanor, his Queen, to the use of Edward, his
son and heir, or of another heir begotten by the said King of
the said Queen ; Edward was at that date an infant under two
years of age.

An entry in the Close Rolls of May 10, 1241, directs John le
Strange to send to the Bishop of Hereford, for his castle of Lydbury
North, two of the best bretaschia in his custody at Montgomery. 4
Bretaschia (Fr. bretache ; Anglice, brattice = boarding) were a
movable gallery of woodwork overhanging the walls of castles

1 C.P.R., 1232-1247, pp. 242, 244, 246.

* C. Cl. R., Hen. Ill, 1237-1242, p. 279. 8 C.P.R., 1232-1247, p. 244.

* C. Cl. R., 1237-1242, p. 299.

no LE STRANGE RECORDS

to enable the defenders to throw down things on those assault-
ing the walls.

Power had been given, on March 5, 1241, to Hugh Pateshull,
Bishop of Coventry, John le Strange, and others to hear the
complaints of and against David, and to do justice therein ; 1
also power to le Strange to conduct David, ' some time Prince
of North Wales,' to Shrewsbury. Apparently they were unable
to effect a satisfactory settlement, for le Strange was placed in
supreme command of the Marches, and a mandate was issued by
the King from Marlborough, on July 13, to all the barons, knights,
&c., in the counties of Chester, Salop, and Stafford, to come in
force when summoned by le Strange to defend the King's lieges
of Wales against attack. 2 His precautions were not confined to
the modern limits of the three counties under his charge ; as
Justice of Chester his jurisdiction was, of course, the palatinate,
and, as Sheriff, extended over Salop and Stafford, three smaller
shires than they afterwards became. He was also Keeper of
Clun and Oswestry (not as yet in Shropshire), and thus had an
exceptionally strong position, being practically military governor
of the whole north March ; he was also expected to keep an eye
to the King's interests beyond it, especially in the ' four Cantreds '
of the vale of Clwyd, viz. Englefield, Rhos, Rhuvoniog, and
Duffryn, often spoken of as a unity, and in which the Welsh had
gained considerably under Llewelyn ap lorwerth, though much
was now falling back into English hands. How greatly the Welsh
had gained is seen from David's renunciations of territory, made
on his submission on August 29, 1241, at Alnetum [the alder-
wood], near St. Asaph, in the Cantred of Englefield. 3

Henry himself came to the March to settle the results of
the campaign, and at once approved the policy of le Strange,
who had commenced the building of a new castle not far from
Rhuddlan, at the mouth of the vale of Clwyd, for which he pro-
vided a site out of the lands in Englefield which the withdrawal
of the Welsh had left in his hands as Justice of Chester. The
King, writing to him from Chester on September 3, says that it
is ' well pleasing to him that he should fortify that place which

1 C.P.R., 1232-1247, p. 246. z Ibid. p. 254. * Ibid. p. 264.

JOHN LE STRANGE (III)

he has provided near Rhuddlan/ and he was immediately autho-
rised to expend 600 marks on the works. 1 A further mandate,
entered in the Close Rolls on October 18, directs the Justice of
Chester to retain, out of the knights and men-at-arms whom he
has with him at Rhuddlan, as many as are necessary for that
castle, and also for the castle on the rock near that place i.e.
the castle of Diserth and if he has more men than are required he
is to send them to the King. Of the victuals sent from Ireland
he is to retain sufficient to supply the garrison for a year, and to
sell the surplus ; also he is to take 40 from the issues of Cheshire,
Staffordshire, and Salop for the works of the said castles, and
to get them completed as soon as possible. 2 John le Strange
deserves credit as the founder and builder of Diserth, the chief
border castle in this region until Edward I built the new Rhuddlan
after 1277 ; the effect was the laying of a solid foundation for the
King's power between the Conway and the Clwyd, and the restitu-
tion of Griffith ap Gwenwynwyn to his dominions. More was
done later on ; le Strange made it possible for Henry III in 1254
to grant to his son Edward lands in Wales besides the county
of Cheshire ; and it looks as if he had anticipated the strategy
by which Edward I afterwards accomplished the conquest of
North Wales, namely, by surrounding it with a girdle of castles
on the north and west, having the sea as their base an early
instance of the advantage to England of sea power. A patent
of October 29, 1241, directs William le Brun, in conjunction with
John le Strange, Justice of Chester, to extend, i.e. to render a
detailed account and survey of, the King's demesne lands and
manors in that county ; 3 Professor Tout points out to me that
this was a natural result of the wide extension of Cheshire lands
due to le Strange's conquests and to David's cessions.

The thousand marks of the Treasure of Ireland, which le
Strange had been directed on September 25 to receive and send

1 C.P.R., 1232-1247, p. 258 ; and C. Cl. R., 1237-1242, p. 327.

1 C. Cl. R., 1237-1242, pp. 338-389. See also Ann. Cambrie, Brut y Tywysogion,
sub anno. Ann. Cestr., p. 62 ; Lancashire and Cheshire Record Soc., 1241. An interesting
paper, which tries to trace building on both of le Strange's sites in Archceologia Cam-
brensis (1912). Welsh Hist. Mon. Comm., Flintshire, pp. 20-21.

3 C.P.R., 1232-1247, p. 265.

U2 LE STRANGE RECORDS

to the Tower of London, never reached the Exchequer ; on
November 28 an acquittance was issued to him for the whole
sum, whereof, by order of the King, he had expended 250 marks on
the fortification of the castles of Beeston and Rhuddlan, and had
delivered the balance of 750 marks to the King himself at Marl-
borough. 1 On December 2 following he was ordered to deliver
up to David, son of Llewelyn, certain hostages as soon as the
latter had released other named hostages held by him : the
winter season, apparently, brought peace and quiet for a short
time to the Marches. 2

By the agreement made between King Henry and his nephew,
Prince David, the latter had undertaken to restore to the King
the territory of Mold, in the modern county of Flint, as well
as seisin of all lands captured from the Barons of the March
since the beginning of the war with David's father, Llewelyn.
On September 5, 1241, John le Strange was directed to receive
and retain for the King the territory of Mold, and to take seisin
of the other lands and restore them to the several barons, after
they had established their claims to them at the court of arbitra-
tion to be held at London. In the meantime le Strange was ordered
to cut down and lay low all woods, wherever necessary, to secure
good and ample passage for the security of the realm. 3 He was
further ordered, on October 30, 1241, to pay, out of the issues of
the counties under his charge, or else out of those of the lands of
John fitz Alan (of which he held the wardship), the sum of 40
to Henry de Audley, to fortify the King's castle of Mold. 4

Early in the following year we find mention of another link
in the chain of northern fortresses which was being forged to
ring in Snowdon : a mandate of January 7, 1242, enjoins Henry
de Audley to deliver the castle of Mold, which he had fortified by
order of the King, to John le Strange. 5 That baron was appointed
on February 25 to assess tallage on the King's demesnes in the
counties of Salop and Stafford. 6

King Henry was at this period making preparations for war

1 C.P.R., 1232-1247, p. 267. z Ibid. p. 267.

3 Ibid. p. 329. * Liberate Rolls, Hen. Ill, 30 Oct.

8 C.P.R., 1232-1247, p. 269. * Ibid. p. 273.

JOHN LE STRANGE (III) 113

with France, and was therefore content to patch up a peace on
the Welsh border. David, one of the sons of Griffith, and grand-
son of Llewelyn ap lorwerth, had hitherto been held as a hostage
in custody of John le Strange, but, on March 13, the King ordered
his release, and on the same day 1 issued a mandate to le Strange
and John de Monmouth, who held the same relation to the King's
lands in South Wales that le Strange did in the north, saying that
it was his will that the land of England and the land of Wales be
common to English as to Welsh to carry on business, so long as
his nephew serve him faithfully. A few days previously, viz. on
March 10, 1242, le Strange, as Justice of Chester, had a mandate
to receive from Llewelyn, son of Meredudd, the sum of 40*

Henry was desirous of taking with him to Gascony some of
the seasoned warriors from the Welsh border ; the knights and
sergeants in garrison in the castles of Rhuddlan and Beeston,
* except such as John le Strange thinks should be retained,' were
ordered to come to the King ; 3 and, on the proclamation of war
against France on June 8, le Strange and Monmouth were ordered
to send ' 500 bonos Walenses ' to the King. 4 On the eve of his de-
parture for France the King wrote from Portsmouth to le Strange
that he was to receive 300 marks from Prince David, and to expend
them on strengthening the castles in his custody. 5 Henry had
evidently a high opinion of the fighting qualities of these Welshmen,
for, as soon as he got to Gascony, he wrote again to le Strange that
they were to be sent out ' quanta poterint festinacione.' 6 John
le Strange was apparently unable to find more than 260 out of
the 500 good Welshmen wanted, and he had to wait six years
before he got paid his expenses in respect of these ; the Barons
of the Exchequer were ordered, on July 18, 1248, to allow him,
out of the issues of the Justices in Eyre, the sum of 34, which he
had expended in conveying 260 Welsh foot-soldiers, and three
constables of the same, by sea to the King in Gascony ; viz. for
ten days each foot-soldier receiving 2d. a day, the master of each

1 C.P.R., 1232-1247, pp. 276-277.

* Excerpt, e Rot. Fin. Hen. Ill, curd, C. Roberts, i. 371.

* C.P.R., 1232-1247, p. 278. ' Foedera, i. 246 ; C. Cl. R., 1237-1242, p. 497.
6 Ibid. p. 426. Ibid. p. 498.

H4 LE STRANGE RECORDS

twenty of them 4^. a day, and each constable I2d. a day. 1 This
pay was very high, equivalent perhaps to 6s. 8d. a day for the
men, and 2 a day for the constables. On the departure of the
King for France le Strange was left in command on the Welsh
March, and a mandate was sent to all barons, knights, &c., of
Cheshire, Salop, and Staffordshire, ordering them, whenever
called upon by him, to come to his aid with men, arms, and horses. 2
Henry's expedition to France was not fortunate ; he was deserted
by the Poitevins, barely escaped capture, and retired to Bordeaux,
where a five years' truce was agreed upon ; he did not, however,
return to England until September 25, 1243.

A commission was issued on March i, 1242, to John le Strange
and Henry de Audley to inquire into the respective claims of
Roger de Montalt [=Mold] and David, son of Llewelyn, to the castle
of Mold ; the result, apparently, was that Roger established his
claim, as a patent of May 6 following appoints ' Roger de Mohaut '
to the custody of the castle during pleasure, and le Strange is
ordered to deliver it to him. 3

Griffith ap Wenwynwyn, afterwards known as Griffith de la
Pole, had succeeded his father as a minor about 1218 in the prin-
cipality of Upper Powys, which lay round the head waters of
the Severn, to the south-east of Llewelyn's country of Snowdon,
affording, therefore, convenient access for attacking the latter
territory ; it was, moreover, immediately contiguous to the great
fief of fitz Alan, and to le Strange' s own castle of Knocknu
Griffith did not come into possession of his principality until 1241,
when he did homage for it to Henry III ; next year he married
Hawyse, daughter of John le Strange, and had a special grant
allowing him to assign her dowry in his Derbyshire manor of
Ashford, under conditions which showed the great favour of the
King to the family of le Strange, and the importance attached
by him to this marriage ; the dowry was assured to Hawyse for
life if she survived her husband, even if Griffith should abandon
[as at one time he did] the service and fealty of the King. 4 For
some time Griffith remained true to his English allegiance, and

1 Liberate Roll, 32 Hen. III. * C.P.R., 1232-1247, p. 288.

3 Ibid. p. 288. * C. Ch. R., 1226-1257, p. 266.

JOHN LE STRANGE (III) 115

his services to the Crown were rewarded by grants ; x but we
shall see that in the civil wars later on he sided with Montfort and
the rebellious barons.

It has been mentioned that John le Strange had custody of
fitz'Alan's lands during the minority of the heir from 1240 to 1244.
Hawyse de Blancminster, widow of John fitz Alan (I), died during
this interval, so, on September 19, 1242, 2 le Strange, as Justice
of Chester, was ordered to take all her lands into the King's hands,
as her dower devolved to the estate of her stepson, which was in
le Strange 's custody. A patent of October 3 3 directed him to
let to farm, as should be best for the King, the demesne lands
held in dower by her.

The Patent Rolls of 1244 and 1245 contain many orders and
directions addressed to John le Strange as Justice of Chester ;
his jurisdiction must have extended as far south as Ludlow, for,
on March 15, 1244, he was ordered to deliver that castle to Peter
de Geneva, as it fell to him in right of his wife Maud, one of the
heirs of Walter de Lacy. 4 Peter of Genville, or Joinville, was a
kinsman of the biographer of St. Louis, and a man of position
in Champagne ; he became a great favourite of Henry III. A
mandate of May 25 directs le Strange to deliver the castles of
Oswestry, Clun, and Shrawardine to John fitz Alan (II), who had
now come of age. 5 Trouble had again broken out with David,
who had renounced his allegiance, obtained protection from the
Pope, and ravaged the Marches in June 1244.

Two undated letters, which from internal evidence may be
referred to the summer of this year, are preserved at the Record
Office, and throw considerable light on the state of affairs in
Wales at that period. The first 6 is addressed to King Henry
by John le Strange, who informs His Majesty (regia majestas
vestra) that David son of Llewelyn has retired to his own lands
on hearing that the King had sent forces to South Wales. It
has been intimated to le Strange that David intended to invest

1 Rot. Pat. 30 Hen. Ill, m. 10 ; Rot. Chart. 35 Hen. Ill, No. ir.

* Excerpt, e Rot. Fin. Hen. Ill, i. 384. C.P.R., 1232-1247, p. 304.
Ibid. p. 421. 8 Ibid. p. 426.

Ancient Correspondence, P.R.O. iv. 4.

I 2

n6 LE STRANGE RECORDS

(vallare) Griffith ap Gwenwynwyn's castle of Walwar, and that
the latter is afraid that, unless succoured by the King, his men
may renounce their fealty ; le Strange therefore asks that a re-
inforcement of forty or fifty knights with their men-at-arms may
be promptly sent, so that the Welsh may see that they will not
be left without help if they remain true to their allegiance. David
has placed so large a force between Chester and the castle of
Diserth that le Strange is unable, without a large army, to get
near enough to that castle to enable him to throw a garrison into
it, but even if he had plenty of money he could not find, in the
three counties (Chester, Salop, and Stafford), thirty men in
possession of horses fit to lend help, so he hopes that the King
will not forget his necessity. The answer to this appeal 1 is dated
from Huntingdon on June 24 [year not given], and addressed
' dilecto et fideli suo Johanni Extraneo, Justiciario suo Cestriae ' ;
the King thanks him for his unwearied diligence in his service,
and directs him to apply the revenues of the three border counties
to their defence, for which allowance shall be made to him at the
Exchequer ; if Diserth or any other royal castle should be besieged,
he is to go in person, or to send any of the magnates to secure
them. The King intends to be at Geddington (Northamptonshire)
on June 29, where Simon de Montfort and others will meet him
to consult about the situation, but help cannot be sent until after
getting their advice. This letter is endorsed ' Summa M.C.C.C.C.
et vli., xviijs., iid,' which probably represents the amount taken
from the issues of the three counties for the defence of the March.
Evidently the Welsh were, at this juncture, more than holding
their own.

The Treasurer of Ireland was ordered to deliver to le Strange
600 marks, whereof the Justice was to hand over 300 marks to
the Earl of Essex and Hereford and to John of Monmouth for the
war in their parts, and to keep the rest himself for war purposes. 2
Power was given by patent of July 15 to John le Strange, the
abbot of Haughmond, and the prior of Wenlock, to make a truce
with David, son of Llewelyn, sometime Prince of North Wales, the
King's nephew, as the said John thinks fit ; and the mayor and

1 Ancient Correspondence, P.R.O. ii. 81. * C.P.R., 1232-1247, p. 427.

JOHN LE STRANGE (III) 117

burgesses of Chester were requested, in the present urgent necessity,
to lend him 300 marks, or even 200 marks, for the defence of the
King's castles and lands, which Henry undertook faithfully to
repay. 1 It was not repaid until forty-one years later, in the time
of John's grandson. 2 A similar request was made to the good
men of Shrewsbury for 200 marks. A notification was also issued
on the same day that the King would approve of whatever John
le Strange, Justice of Chester, should ordain touching the Welsh
prisoners in the Tower of London, provided only that it be in accord-
ance with the form conceived at Nottingham in the presence of
the King, his councillors, and the said justice. Two days later,
on July 17, a mandate was sent to the barons, knights, and others
of the three counties to give faith to what le Strange would tell
them touching the state of the March to be guarded. 3 Evidently
the good men of Chester did not think it prudent to lend more
than the smaller sum asked for, as a mandate of August 27, 1244,
enjoins on le Strange to repay out of the first issues of the county
the 200 marks which had been lent by the mayor and burgesses. 4
All this does not look as if things were going very well for the
King ; he ravaged the fringe of the Snowdon country and
strengthened his castles, but returned to England in October.

On January 6, 1245, Henry wrote to le Strange, as Justice of
Chester, to send on to David, son of Llewelyn, and other barons
of North and South Wales, the King's letters, summoning them
to appear at Westminster to answer for their trespasses. 5 It is
noteworthy that David is addressed by the King, not as an indepen-
dant prince, but simply as one of his barons, from whom feudal
obedience was due. Two days later a patent was issued to John
le Strange and three others, empowering them to make a truce
with David, but something must have occurred immediately after-
wards which induced Henry to hold his hand, for on January 16
a further patent to the same barons commanded them, if they
had made a truce, to let it remain in suspense until confirmed
by the King. 6 On March 6 John le Strange and Henry de Audley

1 C.P.R., 1232-1247, p. 431. See infra. C.P.R., p. 432.

4 Ibid. p. 435. 8 Close Rolls, 29 Hen. Ill, m. 16, d.

C.P.R., 1232-1247, p. 448.

U8 LE STRANGE RECORDS

were commissioned to treat of a truce with David, and to conduct
his envoys to the King's council, but were instructed by no means
to make a truce longer than until St. James the Apostle (July 25). 1

It will be remembered that since 1236 le Strange had held
the office of Gustos of Montgomery, and that he farmed the cas-
tellany thereof at a rent to the Crown of 20 a year. In the Pipe
Roll of 1243 there is a space left on his roll as sheriff for his account
as Fermor, but no particulars are entered except his debt of 20 ;
he certainly retained the office until 1245, if not longer, for he owed
100, or five years' arrears, on this account in 1248. In 1249
he was no longer in office, as an inquest was held at Montgomery
on January 7 as to dilapidations suffered by the castle, with
its chapel, bridges, and other buildings, during the time of five
preceding constables, but mostly in that of John le Strange. 2

On July n, 1245, the King having heard that David was laying
siege to Diserth Castle, sent a mandate to the knights and free
tenants of Cheshire to be with their horses and arms at Chester
on Thursday, July 20, to meet the earls and barons whom he
was sending to the relief of the said castle ; a like mandate was
sent to the Earl of Ferrars and ten others. 3 John le Strange
is not mentioned in these letters, so perhaps he was besieged in
the castle. Two days later, on July 13, the garrisons at Mont-
gomery and Shrewsbury were ordered ' to be intendant ' to John
le Strange, Justice of Chester, in executing the King's orders. 4
A mandate of November 6, 1245, to William de Oddingeseles,
Roger de Clifford, and nine others, directs them to stay in the parts
of Montgomery with John le Strange, without going away, for the
defence of those parts from the incursions of the King's enemies. 5
Another mandate of two days later appoints Fulk Fitz Warin,
John le Strange, and Henry de Audley to arbitrate on the claims
of Griffith ap Madoc and Griffith ap Gwenwynwyn, touching
certain lands of Dendover, seized from David son of Llewelyn
during the last war. 6

Some time during the latter half of 1245 John le Strange

1 Pat. Rolls, 29 Hen. Ill, m. 8. * Montgomeryshire Collections, x. 83.

C.P.R., 1232-1247, p. 456. Ibid. p. 456.

5 Ibid. p. 466. Ibid. p. 466.

JOHN LE STRANGE (III) 119

ceased to hold the responsible and onerous office of Justice of
Chester, though, as we have just seen, he was still in the field
near Montgomery during November. His successor was John de
Grey, who was in office at the beginning of the next year, as is
shown by a patent of January 24, 1246, appointing him, as Justice
of Chester, with three others to do justice touching tolls and prises
done in the county of Chester by the bailiffs of John le Strange
when he was Justice. 1

During the years 1246 and 1247 I find no further mention of
John le Strange. These years were mainly occupied by remon-
strances against the extortions of the papal legate and the en-
croachments of ecclesiastical judges. David, who had given so
much trouble in the Marches of North Wales, died in 1246, and
his nephew, Llewelyn ap Griffith, escaped from England and was
chosen to succeed him in the principality.

In the year 1248 John le Strange, who must then have been
about fifty-five years of age, was relieved of some of his respon-
sibilities with regard to the defence of the Welsh March. The
Patent Roll of June 22 2 states that he has surrendered to the
King the castles of Shrewsbury, Bridgnorth, and Ellesmere, late
in his custody, and that Thomas Corbet had been commanded to
receive and keep them during pleasure. We have seen that in
this year he ceased to be Custos of Montgomery ; he also sur-
rendered the shrievalty of Shropshire and Staffordshire, and
before November 1245 John de Grey had succeeded him in the
office of Justice of Chester.

On October 26, 1249, ^ e Strange had a grant from the King,
to him and his heirs, of a weekly market on Tuesdays at his manor
of Knockin, and of a yearly fair there, to be held on the vigil, the
feast (August 29), and the morrow of the Decollation of St. John the
Baptist. 3 This grant led to a prolonged litigation with his suzerain,
John fitz Alan, who questioned his right to establish a market and
fair at Knockin, on the ground that it infringed his own privileges
in the Hundred, and injured the market and fair in his town of
Oswestry ; Eyton was unable to ascertain the result of this suit. 4

1 C.P.R., 1232-1247, p. 490 * C.P.R., 1247-1258, p. 20.

3 C. Ch. R. t 1226-1257, p. 345. Eyton, x. 369.

120 LE STRANGE RECORDS

Le Strange's eldest son, also called John, makes his appearance
in public life about this time, but the father continued to be
employed by the King both in the field, and as a negotiator to
settle important matters on many occasions. The inquisitions
of 35 Hen. Ill * show John, the elder, holding an inquiry for the
King as to the diversion of the course of the Severn, so as to
bring it to a mill obtained from the Welsh by Baldwin de Mont-
gomery. The Patent Roll of March 13, 1253, contains an appoint-
ment of John le Strange and William Trussel to inquire who
killed William de Albo Monasterio, seneschal of William de Albo
Monasterio, and by whose command, and who sheltered the
evil-doers. 2 On July 4 he was directed, in company with
William la Zuche and Robert de Grendon, to hear plaints between
Fulk fitz Warin the younger, and Thomas Corbet, Meredudd
Goch, and other Welshmen, and to do justice according to the
custom of those parts. 3 On August 3, 1253, John le Strange and
Robert de Grendon were directed to view the injury done to the
King by Griffith de Bromfield in the woods at Ellesmere, and to
amend the said injury. 4

It was in this year (1253) that John's second son Hamon,
whom we shall find later on maintaining the family tradition of
loyalty to his sovereign during Montfort's rebellion, first appears
in public life ; on May 30 ' Hamo le Straunge ' is among those
who had Letters of Protection, going with the King to Gascony,
for so long as they are in service in those parts. 5 The Gascons
had revolted against the oppressive government of Simon de
Montfort, and had been supported by Alphonso IV of Castile,
whom however Henry induced to abandon their cause by pro-
posing a marriage between Prince Edward and Alphonso' s sister
Eleanor. The King crossed over to Bordeaux in August, and
Hamon very soon gained his favour ; on September 9 he received
a patent, dated in camp at La Reole, granting him 30 marks a
year at the Exchequer for life, or until the King provide for him
to that value in wards or escheats. 6 Henry remained in Gascony

1 No. 23. * C.P.R., 1247-1258, p. 226.

8 Ibid. p. 234. Ibid. p. 238.

* Ibid. 1247-1258, p. 231. Ibid. p. 293.

JOHN LE STRANGE (III) 121

during the greater part of the following year (1254), an d Hamon
with him, as is shown by his witnessing a royal grant of free warren
in Wormegay (Norfolk)" to William Bardolph and his heirs ; this
grant is dated at St. Macaire, on the Gironde, July 19, I254. 1 King
Henry returned to England at the end of the year, and on his way
through France was splendidly entertained at Paris by Louis IX.

During this year John le Strange was twice employed by the
absent King on civil business on the Welsh border ; on January
31 he was appointed, with Alan la Zouch, now Justice of Chester,
Griffith de Bromfield, and his own son-in-law Griffith ap Gwen-
wynwyn, to hear and determine the contentions which had arisen
between the two Welsh princes, David son of Griffith and his
brother Llewelyn : z and, on May 21, le Strange and the abbot
of Pershore (Worcestershire) were commissioned to extend and
appraise the lands late of William de Braose, and to partition
them among his heirs. 3

The manor of Little Ercall, now Child's Ercall, in Shropshire,
had fallen to John le Strange as mesne lord c. 1230-40 : the
feodary of 1240 says that he held Middle and Little Ercall under
fitz Alan for 2\ knights' fees ; 4 the greater part of the manor
had, however, been granted for a term of years to the abbot of
Combermere. Soon after 1255 John le Strange made over to
his third son, Roger, 'whatever he had in Ercall/ by which
expression Eyton understands that he conveyed, not the mesne-
lordship, but such reversionary rights as would accrue when-
ever the abbot of Combermere's term expired. The Bradford
Hundred Roll of 1255 shows that John le Strange held the manor
of Cheswardine in capite by service of half a knight's fee ; that
he did suit to the county, but not to the hundred ; and that he
exercised free warren, and had a park at Cheswardine, by war-
ranty unknown to the jurors. 5 The Pimhill Hundred Roll of the
same year states that in Middle he held five geldable hides of the
fee of John fitz Alan, by service of four Muntarii 6 for forty days

1 C.P.R., 1247-1258, p. 313. z Ibid. p. 362. 8 Ibid. p. 377.

4 Testa de Nevill, pp. 45, 48, 49. 6 Eyton, viii. 13.

* Muntarius, or Munitor, was a man-at-arms serving in garrison ; his services for
forty days were accounted as equal to the service of a knight for twenty days.

122 LE STRANGE RECORDS

at Oswestry, both for the said land and for all the lands which
he holds of John fitz Alan in Shropshire ; that Middle owes suit
to the county and to the Hundred, and pays 20^. for stretward, 1
but nothing for motfee. 2 As to Ness, the same survey sets forth
that le Strange held there two hides in capite, doing the service
of one knight for forty days yearly in time of war ; he does no
suit to Pimhill Hundred, but does suit to the county, as for his
other lands in Shropshire ; he holds a free court and a franchise,
the jurors know not by what title. 3 The same Hundred Roll says
that Ness had been given to the ancestors of John le Strange by
King Henry II, and that, by grant of the same King, le Strange
' habuitf ureas in manerio suo de Ness ' : f ureas signifying the jurisdic-
tion of the gallows and the pit ; i.e. the lord had power to punish
felons, men by hanging, women by drowning.

Hamon le Strange probably returned to England with the King
at the end of 1254, as m the following year we find him employed
in Scotland. During the long reign of Henry III peace with
Scotland had never been broken by actual hostilities, though on
more than one occasion a rupture had been very near, owing
to repeated attempts on the part of the English king to exact
homage from his northern neighbour, a performance of which
was as constantly astutely evaded by the Scottish king. Alex-
ander III of Scotland had married Margaret, daughter of Henry
III, but Robert de Ros and John Balliol had formed an association
against the connection with England, and had practically imprisoned
the young King and Queen. Henry went to Scotland and released
them from their tutelage without the necessity of taking violent
measures ; Hamon le Strange accompanied Henry to Scotland in
1255, and appears to have been left there to ensure the carrying out
of his policy after the King had gone back to England. A writ
was directed from Newcastle-on-Tyne, on August 28, 1255, directing
the Sheriff of Shropshire, ' as Hamo le Estraunge is intentive on the
King's service in Scotland/ to pay to him out of the issues of the
county 30 marks of his annual fee in the Exchequer, due at

1 A rate for maintenance of the King's highways.
a A contribution to the folk- mote, or Hundred Court.
3 Rot. Hundred, ii. 75, 105.

JOHN LE STRANGE (III) 123

Easter and Michaelmas this year. 1 These 30 marks had been
granted to Hamon, as we have seen, while in Gascony, two years
before. Another writ, dated from Windsor on April 29, 1256,
directed the same sheriff to pay without delay 30 marks out of
the issues of the county to Hamon le Strange, ' who has long been
intentive on the King's service in Scotland/ 2

A packet of old charters, labelled Bundela litteramm temp.
Hen. Ill, which was seen by Rymer, preserves a record of border
forays in 1256, in which John le Strange junior took part. Llewelyn,
son of Griffith, Prince of Wales, writes to King Henry complaining
that the Justice of Chester, with other barons Marcher, and the
son of Lord John Extraneus, have made many irruptions and
attacks on the lands of his vassal, Griffith de Bromfield, and he asks
for justice. 8 The complaint does not appear to have been made
before the autumn of 1261 ; 4 on June 8, 1262, the King ordered
an inquiry into this matter, to be held at the ford of Montgomery
by Humphrey de Bohun and James de Audley, but the result
of the investigation is not given. The Welsh, headed by Llewelyn,
rose against the oppression of the royal officers in 1258, and in
the following year ravaged the Marches as far as Chester. The
King in consequence invaded Wales, but retired without effect-
ing anything. On May 10 a mandate was issued to Humphrey
Bohun, Earl of Hereford and Essex, John le Strange, and many
others, to aid John de Grey, who had been appointed by Edward,
the King's son, to keep and defend the March of Wales between
Chester and South Wales. 5 The situation was now changed by
the grant which the King had made of all that he had in Wales
to his son Edward ; hence le Strange acts as the deputy of Edward
and not of the King. It is not clear whether the above-mentioned
John le Strange was the father or the son ; probably the latter,
as on September 15 a writ was addressed to John le Strange the
younger, and to those who stay at Chester on the King's service,
and have protection so long as they be there on that service ;

1 Cal. of Doc. rel. to Scotland, 1108-1272, i. 383, No. 1999.

1 Ibid. p. 398, No. 2048. Fcedera, i. 339.

4 Royal Letters, Hen. Ill, Rolls Series, ii. 218219.

6 C.P.R., 1247-1258, p. 553 ; Annales Cambrics, 92.

124 LE STRANGE RECORDS

they were admonished to give a liberal aid to their lord, as the
King was going in person against the Welsh. 1 Before Christmas,
Llewelyn seems to have made overtures for peace, as the Patent
Rolls contain a safe conduct for his messengers coming to Oswestry
to treat with Peter de Montfort and John le Strange, appointed
for this, touching peace. Power was given to these barons in
conjunction with James de Audley, to make a truce between the
King, Edward his son, and their barons and men, and Llewelyn
and his men throughout the March of Wales. 2

In 1258 the quarrel which had long been seething between
the King and his subjects came to a head. The confederated
barons, assembled in Parliament at Oxford on June n, virtually
deposed him, and drove out all who refused to observe their
ordinances, styled the ' Provisions of Oxford.' The functions of
government were assumed by a Council of State, at the head
of which was Simon de Montfort, and the King was practically
a prisoner in their hands. John le Strange the elder remained
faithful to his sovereign, as also did Hamon his second son, but
his eldest son John from the first espoused the cause of the barons.
An entry in the Patent Rolls of June 22 shows that he was present
at Oxford ; the castle of Winchester had been committed to
William de Clare, who afterwards died, and on the Sunday after
St. Peter's Chains, John le Strange the younger came on behalf
of the said William before the King and Council, and surrendered
to him the said castle, which was committed to Simon de Montfort. 3
A commission was issued on July 23, 1258, to Peter de Montfort,
Sheriff of Salop, John le Strange (probably the elder), and others,
directing them to go to the church of the friars preachers of
Shrewsbury, and to stop up and divert a lane beneath that church
towards the north, which is noisome in time of heavy rains. 4

The Report on Lord Middleton's papers, published by the
Historical MSS. Commission, 5 contains a letter of March 14, 1259,
from Richard de Clare, Earl of Gloucester, agreeing to counsel
and support Edward, the King's son, and his allies, and among
the latter mentions ' Hamon le Estraunge.' Mr. Stevenson, who

1 C.P.R., 1247-1258, p. 600. * Ibid. p. 660. * Ibid. p. 638.

* Ibid. p. 642. P. 68.

JOHN LE STRANGE (III) 125

prepared this Report, points out the importance of this agree-
ment ' as marking the gaining over by Edward's diplomacy of
Gloucester and his party, thus breaking up the baronial phalanx
that had ruled the country since the " Provisions of Oxford " in
the previous year/

John le Strange had two daughters, Hawyse and Alice ; the
former has already been mentioned as having married Griffith
Gwenwynwyn, Prince of Upper Powys ; the other, Alice, is
believed by Eyton * to have been married about 1260-61 ; he
cites a deed, without giving its provenance, whereby John le
Strange gives to his daughter Alice, towards her marriage, half
his manor of Lucham (Litcham, in Norfolk), together with the
advowson of the church. At the same time John le Strange
gave the other half of the same manor to his son Robert (the
ancestor of the House of Blackmere), saving the curia, or manor-
house. These deeds were witnessed by Griffith ap Gwenwynwyn,
Hamon le Strange, and Roger le Strange, the brother-in-law and
brothers of Alice, but the name of her husband is not mentioned.
Eyton further says that between the years 1269 and 1275 John
le Strange quartus confirms to his sister Alice ten solidates of
rent in Tottington (Norfolk). Eyton assigns to the same date
a deed by which John le Strange tercius recovered some land
at Litcham, which had been granted by some ancestor of his to
Haughmond Abbey ; in exchange he gave to the canons a noke
(=nook) of land at Cheswardine. 2

During the summer of 1260 Llewelyn ap Griffith had again
broken out into revolt, had successfully stormed Builth Castle
and slaughtered the English garrison ; exasperated at this Henry,
on August i, summoned an army for an expedition against Lle-
welyn ; among the knights ordered to rendezvous at Chester
on September 8 was John le Strange. 3

In November 1260 le Strange and his son-in-law, Griffith ap
Gwenwynwyn, were concerned in an outrage on a fellow royalist,
James de Audley, who brought a suit at Westminster for it against
Fulk Fitz Warin. The said Fulk, with Griffith and John, had
sent Welshmen on June 29 to ravage Audley's lands during his

1 x. 274. * Ibid. x. 32. 8 Rot. Claus. 44 Hen. Ill, m. 9, dorso.

126 LE STRANGE RECORDS

absence at Court ; they burnt three vills, slew eight men, wounded
ten, and took ten prisoners, 260 oxen, 80 sheep, and 57 horses. 1
Such were the feuds and disorders which were no uncommon event
among neighbours on the Welsh Marches in those lawless times.

Eyton 2 gives the following quotations from the Shropshire
Forest Roll of February 1262, which, he says

contain certain reminiscences of John le Strange and his sons, which show that
the old man was a lover of the Forest and the Chase, and not very particular as
to the example which he set in those matters of royal prerogative :

Sir John le Strange, senior, did capture three stags and one doe (bissam)
in the King's 4Oth year (1255-6). Hamo le Strange did capture one doe on
September the 8th, 1257. Sir Hamo le Strange did capture one stag and one
doe on Sunday October the I3th, 1258. John le Strange, junior, did capture
two fallow deer (damos) on September I5th, 1259.

The war with Simon de Montfort and the barons broke out
in 1260, and lasted for five years ; nowhere was it carried on with
greater fury than along the Welsh border. The custody of Mont-
gomery Castle, with a salary of 120 marks, had been committed
in that year to John le Strange junior ; 3 suspicion or proof of his
disaffection must have been forthcoming before long, for the Patent
Rolls of November 13, 1261, show that his loyalty was distrusted,
while that of his younger brother Hamon was relied on with
absolute confidence. A mandate, directed to John the younger,
sets forth that he has been ordered several times by the King to
come to speak with him on business affecting the castle of Mont-
gomery, and has replied that he could not come ; he is therefore
commanded to deliver the castle forthwith to John le Bretun,
his steward. Another mandate of the same date, addressed to
John le Bretun, as the King is informed that he is too busy in the
affairs of Edward, the King's son, to attend to the keeping of the
said castle, orders him to deliver it to the keeping of Hamon le
Strange, and a writ de intendendo for the said Hamon is sent to all
persons of the castle and honour of Montgomery. 4 In April 1262,
when Simon de Montfort collected an army at Oxford, Hamon
le Strange was among his adherents, as also were the King's

1 Eyton, vii. 186. * Ibid. x. 272.

Rot. Pat. 44 Hen. Ill, memb. 3. C.P.R., 1258-1266, p. 191.

JOHN LE STRANGE (III) 127

nephew Henry, son of Richard King of the Romans, Earl Warenne,
and many other personal friends of the King. 1 Henry was at that
time in France ; he wrote from Amiens on July 22 to Philip
Basset, Justiciar of England, thanking him for sending him a
report, which turned out to be a false one, of the death of Llewelyn,
and he enclosed letters to John le Strange and other lords Marcher,
directing them not to allow the succession of Llewelyn's younger
brother David, but if the report proved to be true, they were to
assemble at Shrewsbury, and to be ready to march at once with
an army into North Wales. 2 Eyton says that although Owen, the
elder brother of the three, was still living, it is obvious that the
King intended to allow no claim to the principality, but to seize
it for himself. 3

In 1263 the trouble with the barons was again becoming acute :
under the leadership of Montfort they attacked the King's foreign
favourites, and captured Gloucester, Bridgnorth, and other places
garrisoned by the French mercenaries. Roger Mortimer, James
de Audley, and Hamon le Strange met the barons of the Marches
at Ludlow, to concert measures against Montfort and the insurgent
nobles. 4 John le Strange the younger was at this time bailiff
of Montgomery Castle ; a Welsh chronicle, which mentions him
under the designation of ' Ion Ystrog ' or 'Ystrans, ' says that he made
a night attack a little before Easter on Ceri and Cydewain, but was
surprised by the Welsh, who assembled in great force and slew
200 of his men, forcing him to retreat ; in revenge he burnt the
barn of Abermule. 5 The Patent Rolls, under date June 16, 1263,
record a promise to Hamon le Strange, to whom the King had
committed the castles of Bridgnorth and Shrewsbury during
pleasure, which by reason of the disturbance of the realm he has
had to munition, that the King will allow him his reasonable
costs in doing so, on condition that he answer for the same,
as well as for other expenses made, whereof he had letters before
at the Exchequer. 6 On August 10 a patent was issued ' by the
counsel of the nobles,' appointing Hamon sheriff of the counties

1 Annales Monastici, iii. 222. * Foedera, i. 398, 420.

8 Eyton, vii. 27. * Trans. Shrops. Arch, and Nat. Hist. Soc., i. 228.

8 Brut y Tywysogion, pp. 345, 350. C.P.R., 1258-1266, p. 266.

128 LE STRANGE RECORDS

of Salop and Stafford, which Roger de Somery was ordered to
deliver to him ; * this implies that the King had again been obliged
to submit to the barons, whose party was at that time favoured
by de Somery and Hamon le Strange. Shortly after this Prince
Edward took up arms against the barons, and several of them
went over with him to the King's side ; among these were Earl
Warenne, Roger de Clifford, Roger de Leybourne, John Vaux,
and Hamon le Strange. Some of the chroniclers allege that
their defection was due to corrupt motives ; the author of the
' Annals of Duns table ' says : ' Dominus autem Edwardus interim
attraxit quamplures qui prius erant cum comite, per maneria
sua quae dedit eis.' 2 William Rishanger says : ' Eo tempore Rogerus
de Clifford, Rogerus de Leybourne, Johannes de Vallibus, Hamo
le Estraunge et plures alii, muneribus excaecati, a fidelitate quam
Baronibus in commune juraverunt, recesserunt.' 3 Eyton, how-
ever, shows that Hamon's adhesion to Prince Edward, in which
he was joined by Ralph Basset and other barons, was reduced
into writing and confirmed by the oath of the declarants, and
that it implies no corrupt sacrifice of principle whatever. 4 The
document, which is written in French, is given by Rymer, and
bears date at Lambeth, August 18, I263. 5 Professor Tout has
explained the significance of this great change of front of the
Marchers as a body in 1263. 6 Up to that time they had mainly
been on the baronial side ; in 1263 they rallied round Edward,
himself the greatest of the Marchers, and remained his chief
adherents for the rest of the struggle. The increasing alliance
between Llewelyn and Montfort, and the consequent danger to
all the Marchers, largely accounts for the change, though the
aggressive policy of Montfort, in Professor Tout's opinion, perhaps
does so as much.

In those days, when the Barons who had the person of the
King in their power often obliged him to do things contrary to
the interest and obligation of the Crown, when even his own son

1 C.P.R., 1258-1266, p. 274. * Ann. Monastic!, iii. p. 225.

8 Will. Rishanger, Chron. et Ann., p. 13. * Eyton, i. 282. * Rymer, i. 430.

6 In Owen's Coll. Hist. Essays, 1902 : 'Wales and the March in the Barons' Wars,'
Essay IV, pp. 102-3.

JOHN LE STRANGE (III) 129

and his nephew sided at times against the royal authority, it
must have been no easy matter to determine promptly and with
certainty which party was absolutely and morally true to its
allegiance. Allegations of treason must not therefore be accepted
as necessarily involving moral guilt, or even as indicating personal
antagonism to the sovereign, or to the real advantage and interests
of the royal authority. On these grounds I am inclined to form
a less severe judgment than Eyton does as to the course taken
at this period by John le Strange the younger, whom he stigmatises
as a traitor to his King and false to the traditions of his House ;
and I am strengthened in this view by the fact that, after the final
triumph of the King's party, no measures of vengeance or punish-
ment were adopted with regard to him ; it is surely beside the
mark to say, as Eyton does, that he was probably shielded by
the great name which he bore. 1

The accession of Hamon le Strange and the Marcher lords
to the King's party in 1263 had an important influence on the
royal fortunes, and contributed in no small measure to their final
success ; the Patent Rolls are the best indication of the gratifica-
tion of the King. On September 18 they record the grant of a
pardon to Hamon le Strange for all trespasses and excesses com-
mitted by him in the realm of England by reason of the non-
observance of the ' Provisions of Oxford/ for which there had lately
been so much disturbance in the country ; he was also assured of
the release to him of the King's rancour by reason thereof. 2 A
notification was issued on October 8, to him and the other barons
who had come over, that the King would cause to be made to
each of them a Letter Patent under the Great Seal to the above
effect. 3 A mandate was sent to them on the 28th of the same
month to come to the King at once, wherever he may be in England,
as he understands from his brother Richard, King of the Romans,
and other persons elected to be mediators of peace between the
King and the nobles of the realm, that firm peace was likely to
be made between them very soon. 4 Hamon, who had been Sheriff
of Shropshire and Staffordshire since August, I263, 5 received a

1 x. 274. * C.P.R., 1258-1266, p. 278. Ibid. p. 284.

* Ibid. p. 296. 5 Supra, p. 127.

130 LE STRANGE RECORDS

commitment during pleasure of the King's castles of Shrewsbury,
Bridgnorth, and Montgomery, and a mandate was issued to his
brother John to deliver the last-named castle to his charge. 1
On December 18 he received a personal grant of considerable
value, namely, the manor of Ellesmere, with the castle, hundred,
and other appurtenances, for seventeen years from the next
Christmas, for his fee of 30 marks at the Exchequer. 2

We have seen that during the Welsh rising of 1244, under David
ap Llewelyn, John le Strange's son-in-law, Griffith ap Gwenwynwyn,
remained true to his English allegiance ; nineteen years later, in
consequence of disputes between him and Thomas Corbet, of Caus,
to whom the English Justice showed partiality, Gwenwynwyn was
withdrawn from his English fealty, and in the civil wars which
ensued he sided with de Montfort and the rebellious barons ; on
December 12, 1263, Griffith did homage for his territory to Llewelyn,
who covenanted to come to his assistance if he were attacked. 3

In December, 1263, an agreement was made by the King and
the rebellious barons that all disputes between them should be
referred to the arbitration of the King of France ; the Letters
Patent by which Henry agreed to abide by King Louis's decision
were witnessed, among others, by ' Hamo Extraneus.' 4 An
attempt was made at Christmas-time to patch up a peace with
Llewelyn ; a patent, dated on Christmas Eve, 1263, gives power
to Roger de Mortimer, James de Audley, and Hamo le Strange,
whom the King will send to the ford at Montgomery at Hilary
next, to treat of peace with Llewelyn, and to swear on the King's
soul that he will observe it. 5 On the same day these three barons
were appointed keepers of the counties of Salop and Stafford,
with mandate to all persons to be of aid with horses and arms
and their whole posse when called upon. 6

Some complaint must have been made to the King of infringe-
ments of the liberties of the Church, or of the seizure of ecclesiastical
property by Hamon le Strange during these disturbed times ; the

1 C.P.R., 1258-1266, p. 300. * Ibid. pp. 302-304.

8 Montgomeryshire Collections, Powysland Club, i. 22-50, from Hengwrt MS., No. 119.
Royal Letters of Hen. Ill (Rolls Series), ii. 251-252; Rot. Pat. 48 Hen. Ill,
memb. 18.

C.P.R., 1258-1266, p. 305. 8 Ibid. p. 358.

JOHN LE STRANGE (III) 131

Patent Rolls of January 20, 1264, contain a notification that the
King is perturbed about injuries committed against the Church in
the province of Canterbury, and that he has promised the arch-
bishop that he will procure that Roger de Clifford, Hamon le
Strange, and others, upon whom the blame of these injuries is
laid, shall make competent amends before next Sunday. 1 The
complainant was Peter of Aigueblanche (Aquablanca), the Savoyard
Bishop of Hereford, one of the most hated among the foreigners,
and the particulars are recorded in the Household Roll of his
successor, Bishop Swinfield, which has been published by the
Camden Society ; it contains a statement that in the year 1263
Hamon le Strange, who had been made castellan of Montgomery,
had seized Churchstoke and two other vills appertaining to the
bishop's manor of Lydbury, which he pretended were part of
the honour of Montgomery. 2 Hamon was not content with
seizing the bishop's property, he aided and abetted the infliction
of personal violence, which drew on him the spiritual censure of
the Pope himself. Urban IV wrote from Orvieto, on March 10,
1264, to the Archbishop of Canterbury, to declare invalid the oath
which the Bishop of Hereford had been forced to take, and to
publish a sentence of excommunication against Simon, Earl of
Leicester, Roger de Clifford, Hamon le Strange, and other barons ;
they had seized the bishop's beasts of burden, his chapel, and
other things, and besieged him in his church, which they at last
entered by violence, whereupon the bishop gave himself up to
Roger de Clifford, who took him to one of his castles, and im-
prisoned him there for twelve weeks or more. On his getting out
he was forced to give remission to the above persons for what
they had done, and, being in fear of further imprisonment, gave
a quittance in writing under seal of the Bishop and Chapter, and
on his oath. The sentence of excommunication was ordered by
the Pope to be enforced until satisfaction was made, and, if dis-
regarded, the lands of the above barons were to be put under an
interdict. 3 Hamon leJStrange claimed to have acted in the matter

1 C.P.R., 1258-1266, p. 378.

2 Household Book of Bp. Swinfield, Camden Soc., 1855, ii. xxii.
8 Papal Letters, 1198-1304, i. 411.

K 2

I 3 2 LE STRANGE RECORDS

of Churchstoke as upholder of the King's interests, the honour of
Montgomery being in the King's hands. 1

The insurgent barons were in the field early in 1264 ; on
February 4 the King wrote to Hamon le Strange, as Sheriff of
Salop and Stafford, ordering him to break down the bridges over
the Severn to prevent any barons joining Llewelyn and besieging
the castles of Roger de Mortimer. 2 Henry had just returned from
France with King Louis's award between him and the barons,
which was too fair to be acceptable to either party. On April 13
he captured Northampton, and took prisoner there several of
the nobles of de Montfort's party. A month later, on May 14, the
royal army was totally defeated at Lewes, where the King and his
brother Richard were made prisoners, with many barons who
fought on his side. A truce, called the Mise of Lewes, was made
next day, under the conditions of which Edward and Henry of
Almain, who had not been captured, surrendered themselves in
order to obtain better terms for the King, who was nominally set
at liberty, while the princes were confined at Dover. The author
of the ' Annals of the Priory of Dunstable ' says that, after the battle,
Hamon le Strange and some others were allowed to go free, on
leaving the two princes as hostages, and undertaking to come to
Parliament when summoned to stand the judgment of their peers ; 3
but it seems more probable that Hamon and his friends escaped
with Edward himself, whom they were following in the battle, as
there would have been no good reason for their release if they
had been captured. If William de Rishanger is to be believed,
Hamon immediately went back to Wales, and ravaged the Marches
to such an extent that the natives sought refuge in the churches,
and built dwellings in the churchyards ; he says :

Auctor hujus mali fuit ille praecipuus Hamo Extraneus, praedo nominatissi-
mus, et alii quamplures, pululante tirannide sua, laxis crudelitatis habenis, misere
debacchati sunt. 4

Certain it is that the Marchers were the only opponents of Earl
Simon all that autumn and spring, that they never surrendered

1 Dunstable Annals, p. 222. 2 Royal Letters, Hen. Ill, ii. 254.

3 Ann. Monast., hi. 232. Chronicle oj IV m. de Rishanger, p. 40.

JOHN LE STRANGE (III) 133

despite repeated mandates, and so became the nucleus of a party
which at once became so formidable that de Montfort himself went
in the spring to attack them. Edward's escape gave the Marchers
the decisive voice in the events that culminated at Evesham.

On June 4 a letter was sent to Hamon in the King's name,
ordering him, as peace had been established with the barons,
to come to London with all speed, without arms, to consult with
the other barons and the King. 1 It does not appear that Hamon
paid any attention to this summons : he was not the man to walk
blindfold into the trap. A month later, viz. on July 7, both
John and Hamon were included in a safe-conduct, granted to
them and their knights, together with their horses, households,
and goods which they bring with them ; 2 unfortunately the
entry does not state where they were going. A letter in the same
Roll, addressed on August 24 to Roger de Mortimer, Hamon le
Strange, and others, recites that whereas lately, peace being re-
stored between the King and his barons, it was provided that
all prisoners taken at Northampton should be brought to the
King at London, on which account the King had several times
commanded the said Roger and others to bring their prisoners
to him, which hitherto they have put off doing, the King's will
is that they should be delivered without delay, and that the castles
which are in their keeping on the King's commandment should
be delivered to the persons appointed to receive them ; mandate
accordingly to Hamon le Strange to deliver the castles of Shrews-
bury and Bridgnorth, the town of Bridgnorth, and other bailiwicks
which he holds by commitment of the King. 3 Instead of paying
obedience to these orders, issued in the name of the captive
sovereign, Hamon and his friends carried the war into the enemy's
camp. A further mandate of October 6 recites that, whereas,
when the King was at Lewes, he made Edward his son and Henry
son of the King of Almain, his nephew, hostages for the observance
of peace ; and whereas the said Roger, Hamon, and other co-
Marchers have besieged the castle of Hawley, belonging to Gilbert
de Clare, Earl of Gloucester and Hereford, who insisted on the

1 Royal Letters, Hen. Ill, ii. 256 ; Rot. Claus. 48 Hen. Ill, m. 5, dorso.
* C.P.R., 1258-1266, p. 332. Ibid. p. 366.

134 LE STRANGE RECORDS

deliverance of the said hostages ; therefore the King commands
them on their allegiance to retire from the said siege. 1 Hamon
was shortly afterwards, in the month of November, concerned in
an attempt to effect the escape of Prince Edward, which is thus
narrated by Blaauw, in his ' History of the Barons' War ' : 2

The hostage Princes had been moved from Dover to Berkhampstead, and
thence to the Palace of Wallingford, which the King of the Romans had streng-
thened and embellished for his own residence. While there so slack a ward
was kept on them as to encourage the idea of their rescue, and about this time
some of his devoted partisans at Bristol made a desperate attempt to effect it.
Some of these knights were fugitives from Lewes, Hugh Turberville and Hamo
1'Estrange, led by Robert Waleran and Warren de Bassingbourne. . . . After
a rapid march to Wallingford these zealous knights surprised the garrison by
a sudden attack at dawn of day. They were obstinately resisted however, and,
to their demand of releasing Prince Edward, the threat was returned that he
should be fastened to a warlike engine a mangonel and so hurled off from
the walls to the besiegers. The Prince therefore came forward on the ramparts
to entreat his friends to retire.

The winter campaign of de Montfort against the Mortimers
and other barons of the March was so successful that they pur-
chased peace by undertaking to leave the country and go to
Ireland for a year. A mandate, issued in the King's name from
Shrewsbury on December 15, 1264, to Hamon le Strange, John
de Turberville, and other Marchers, warns them that, whereas
Roger de Mortimer, Roger de Clifford, and Roger de Leybourne,
for themselves and their fellow-Marchers, had entered into a form
of peace with the King, and had gone to Kenilworth to confirm
it, the King was exceedingly amazed that the said Hamon and
others permitted their men to plunder and commit damage ; where-
fore he commands them to cause their men to desist from such,
lest he should have to lay his hand upon them otherwise. 3 This
mandate was followed five days later by another, commanding
Hamon to deliver up to Ralph Basset of Drayton, one of de Mont-
fort's principal supporters, the castle of Shrewsbury, with the
wines, victuals, armour, and other stock therein : 4 de Montfort,
though dating his mandates in the King's name from the town

1 C.P.R., 1258-1266, p. 374. * Second ed. 1871, p. 241.

3 C.P.R., 1258-1266, p. 415. Ibid. p. 397.

JOHN LE STRANGE (III) 135

of Shrewsbury, was not yet in possession of the castle, which was
still held by Hamon le Strange. In the early days of 1265 arrange-
ments were made by de Montfort for sending off Mortimer, le
Strange, and the royalist barons of the Marches to Ireland ; a
letter of safe-conduct was issued in the King's name from Windsor
on January 2, to hold good until Easter, and for one year after-
wards, for Roger de Mortimer, Roger de Clifford, Roger de Ley-
bourne, Hamon le Strange, and Hugh de Turberville, and the
knights, esquires, and others going with them to Ireland, with
their households, harness, and goods, so that after this term they
may safely return to England and dwell in their own parts at
the lands which they have of their inheritance, with protection
for their lands and other possessions. 1 It looks as if some question
had arisen as to the validity of these terms, for the Patent Roll
of the same date contains a second letter of safe-conduct, as
above provided, which is written and sealed by the King and his
barons. 2 The royalist Marchers, however, showed no disposition
to take themselves off to Ireland. The castle of Montgomery
was held at this time by Adam fitz Philip, to whom it had been
committed by Edward before the battle of Lewes. The custody
thereof was transferred on March 7 ' by the counsel of the mag-
nates of the council ' to Hamon's eldest brother John ; fitz Philip
was ordered to deliver it to him, and John was directed, as soon
as he received the said castle, to come to the King, wherever he
might be, to speak with him on special business ; 3 i.e., as Eyton
puts it, 4 he was to come to Simon de Montfort and plot treason.
Meanwhile fresh efforts were made by the insurgent barons to get
the five lords Marcher out of the way ; a patent of March 17
states that, although they did not cross over to Ireland at the
time which was appointed, the King nevertheless wills that they
have safe-conduct in going and staying there for the said term,
saving, after the said term, the covenants which they made at Wor-
cester. 5 Things were not going so well for the barons ; not only
did Hamon and his friends decline to go to Ireland, but fitz Philip
would not deliver up Montgomery Castle without special orders

1 C.P.R., 1258-1266, p. 398. z Ibid. p. 399. Ibid. p. 411.

4 Eyton, x. 273. 6 C.P.R., 1258-1266, p. 415.

136 LE STRANGE RECORDS

from Edward. A peremptory mandate was thereon directed to
fitz Philip on April 2, ordering him on his allegiance, and with
the assent of Edward, to hand over the custody of the castle
without further delay. 1 Shrewsbury Castle had been delivered
up by Hamon le Strange to Ralph Basset, but the latter was in
a very precarious position ; Leicester with the captive King and
his son Edward had advanced to Gloucester, but the country west
of the Severn was in the hands of the King's friends. A mandate
of May 6 from Gloucester to Ralph Basset, constable of the castle
of Shrewsbury, directs him to maintain the said castle with his
men, as the disturbance in the realm is not yet settled in those
parts, and the King will cause the cost thereof to be repaid to him ;
and as Hamon le Strange and his fautors wish to attract certain
rebels to him against the King, he is to bring all of those parts
back to unity and concord, and to take into the King's hands
the goods of all contrariants. 2 Besides Hamon, two of his younger
brothers, Roger, afterwards of Ellesmere, and Robert, ancestor of
the House of Blackmere, were in arms under the Earl of Glou-
cester (Gilbert de Clare) against the Earl of Leicester. One of
the latter's patents, marked on the Roll as having been issued
' Rege Captivo,' announced to the sheriffs of counties on May 20
that peace and unity had been proclaimed throughout the whole
kingdom between the two earls, but because Roger de Clifford,
Hamon le Strange, his brother Roger, and other Marchers have
not left the kingdom in accordance with the ordinance of Worcester,
if any of them stir up disaffection they are to be arrested at once. 3
A week after this, namely, on May 28, Prince Edward escaped
from his guards by a stratagem, and joined the army of the Earl
of Gloucester, who immediately raised the royal banner. The
battle of Evesham, fought on August 4, 1265, restored the authority
of King Henry and cost de Montfort his life. In all probability
Hamon was present at the battle, as only four days after it he
received a grant of the wardship of the land and heirs of Fulk
fitz Warin, who had fallen the year before fighting for the King
at the battle of Lewes. 4

1 Pat. Roll, 49 Hen. Ill, No. 77. * C.P.R., 1258-1266, p. 422.

8 Pat. Roll, 49 Hen. Ill, m. 15. * C.P.R., 1258-1266, p. 435.

JOHN LE STRANGE (III) 137

We learn from the author of the ' Annals of Waverley ' that
Hamon le Strange and Maurice fitz Gerald were sent against
Llewelyn, who had made a raid into Cheshire in December. The
chronicler says that the two English knights were put to flight,
and escaped with difficulty, while many of their men were slain. 1
The citizens of London had been strong adherents of de Montfort's
party, and many of them consequently suffered forfeiture after
his downfall, their possessions being conferred on the supporters
of the royal cause. Amongst these Hamon le Strange had a grant,
on October 19, ' to him and his heirs of the houses with their
appurtenances and rents in the City of London, late of John
Everard, sometime citizen of London, the King's enemy, so that
he do the due and accustomed service/ 2 Apparently he had re-
possessed himself of the castle of Shrewsbury soon after the battle
of Evesham, as he was ordered on November 25, 1265, to hand
on that castle to Thomas Corbet, who succeeded him in the office
of Sheriff of Salop and Stafford. 3 A commission was issued on
February 3, 1266, to Giles de Erdington to inquire what male-
factors assaulted and killed the men of Hamon le Strange at
Leicester and Kilworth. 4

Among the supporters of Simon de Montfort was Walter de
Mucegros, who died in 1264, possessed of considerable estates in
Herefordshire. The writ for the inquisition on his death was dated
December 2, 1264, but the inquisition itself was not held until
February 5 following ; the jurors say that the King has no seisin
in the lands held by him, because John le Strange the younger
holds them by force, and will not permit anyone to have seisin
in the King's name. 5 It seems that John had some right to deal
with these manors, as a patent of June 4, 1266, confirms a grant
made by him, as one of the executors of the will of Walter de
Mucegros, to Walter de Clifford, 6 but whether the executor was
John the elder, or the younger, is not specified. Anyhow, it is
clear that, after the battle of Evesham, all the lands which
had belonged to W. de Mucegros were given to John le

1 Ann. Monast. ii. 366. C.P.R., 1258-1266, p. 468.

8 Ibid. p. 511. * Ibid. p. 654.

Cat. Inq. p.m., Hen. Ill, No. 606, i. 192. C.P.R., 1258-1266, p. 602.

138 LE STRANGE RECORDS

Strange. 1 Eyton takes it for granted that this was John the elder ; 2
and, indeed, it is not likely that it was his son, who certainly had
not contributed to the overthrow of Simon de Montfort.

A curious little story, showing how John le Strange's Norfolk
property was affected by the political disturbances, has come
down to us through a presentation of the jury of the hundred
of Hartismere in Suffolk, as set forth among the Placita de terris
datis et occupatis occasione turbacionis in regno Anglie. The jury
say that John de Stratton bought of William de Hoo thirty
sheep, worth twenty shillings, which the latter had plundered
(depredatos) from John le Strange. Thomas de Brisingham, a
dealer living at Ipswich, bought some of them there. John de
Stratton, being summoned, averred that the sheep had been taken,
not from John le Strange, but from William de Wretham, an enemy
of the King, who had always been an adherent of the Earl of Lei-
cester. The jury further say that the aforesaid William de Wretham
took possession of the manor of John le Strange in the county of Nor-
folk, and of all the goods found there ; that William de Hoo was
the bailiff of William de Wretham, and that when William de Hoo
heard that the latter had been killed at the battle of Evesham,
he took the said sheep which John de Stratton bought of him.
John de Stratton received a pardon for his share of the trans-
action. 3

Eyton has pointed out that between the years 1262 and 1265
John (III) acquired by purchase from Madoc de Sutton the manor
of Sutton, with its members Rowton and Ellardine ; it was worth
5os. per annum ; and was held by the serjeanty of providing
four foot-soldiers in ward of Montgomery Castle for fifteen days
at his own cost. 4 Between 1262 and 1267 John enfeoffed his
eldest son and heir, John, in Rowton and Ellardine, reserving a
rent of one penny only thereon ; within the same interval John
the younger made them over to his brother Robert. 5

The Dictum of Kenilworth, embodying the terms on which the

1 Rot. Select. ; tence rebellium dates fidelibus tempore regis Hen. Ill, curd Jos.
Hunter, p. 254.

Eyton, x. 274. 3 Rot. Select, p. 223.

4 Placita Corone, 20 Edw. I, m. 16, dorso. 5 Ibid.

JOHN LE STRANGE (III) 139

barons, disinherited after the battle of Evesham, were allowed to
redeem their lands, was made on October 15, 1266. They were
to pay ' as much as their lands be worth by the space of fivejyears.'
Those paying this five years' purchase should have their lands
again ; in cases where they were unable to redeem except by the
sale of portions of their lands, or in some instances of the whole,
the right of pre-emption was given to those who were in actual
possession by gift of the King.

The younger sons of John (III), and more especially Hamon,
shared in the spoils of the late rebels, while their father, probably
on account of his age, only received the grant of the forfeited
lands of Walter de Mucegros ; this was perhaps merely the re-
cognition of a fait accompli ; since, as we have seen, these lands
were already in the tight grasp of John the younger. A grant of
simple protection for one year for John le Strange, dated April 20,
1267, was probably for the son. 1 The elder John must have been
over seventy years of age at the time of the battle of Evesham,
and indeed his name is hardly mentioned after that date. A grant
of October 19, 1268, from Sir John de Tregoz, son and heir of
Sir Robert de Trezog, to the lady Juliana, late the wife of Sir
Robert, specifying certain manors which she is to hold in dower,
is witnessed by John and Hamon le Strange ; it may likely
enough have been John the elder who witnessed the grant of
his brother-in-law, Sir John Tregoz. 2 If so, it was the last re-
corded act of this veteran, who must have died early in 1269,
since the Fine Rolls show that the King took the homage of
his son, and gave him seisin of all the lands which his father
had held in chief, on March 26 of that year. 3

Lucia de Tregoz, wife of John (III), appears to have survived
him for at least twenty-five years, if I am correct in assuming
that she is the Lucia Extranea named in the Exchequer list of
1294-5, as a holder of 40 a year and upwards in lands or rents
in the name of dower in the counties of Bedford and Buckingham. 4
By her John had four sons and two daughters ; of the sons, John,
the eldest, succeeded his father in the possession of his Shrop-

1 C.P.R., 1266-272, p. 55. * Cat. Anc. Deeds, iii. 321, c. 3025.

1 Excerpt, e Rot. Fin. Hen. Ill, ii. 485. * Pub. Beds. Hist. Record Soc., ii. 257.

140 LE STRANGE RECORDS

shire and Norfolk estates ; the second, Hamon, only survived his
father for three or four years, so the conclusion of his story may
well be set down at once, while that of the third brother, Roger,
who did not die till 1311, may be reserved for a subsequent
chapter, as also that of the youngest, Robert, who became the
founder of the house of the Lords Strange of Blackmere. Of
his daughter Alice, who had half the manor of Litcham as her
marriage portion, mention has already been made. 1 The other
daughter, Hawyse, who married the Prince of Powys, survived
her father and her husband for many years, and further mention
of her will appear later on.

HAMON LE STRANGE (THE CRUSADER).

We have already seen that Hamon was a lifelong friend of
the King's son Edward, from the time when he served with
him in Gascony in 1253 ; that he was employed in Scotland in
1254, was constable of Montgomery Castle, and also of Bridgnorth
and Shrewsbury during the greater part of the War of the Barons
from 1261 onwards, as well as Sheriff of the counties of Salop
and Stafford ; that he escaped after the battle of Lewes and at
once took up arms again for the captive King, and made a bold
attempt to effect the rescue of his son Edward, and that he con-
tributed in no small degree to the royalist success at Evesham.
For these loyal services rewards were showered upon him.

The Northamptonshire lands of Richard Basset, one of de
Montfort's supporters, were among those which had been granted
to Hamon le Strange on the conditions of the Dictum de Kenilworth.
The Plea Rolls of 1267 contain particulars of a suit by which
Basset made terms for recovering his forfeited property. Hamon
gave as a reason for not allowing the lands to be restored to him
that Richard, who had been captured when in arms against the
King at Northampton, and subsequently ransomed, had again
fought on de Montfort's side at Kenilworth. Richard denied
this, and averred that he had gone peaceably to Northampton
with his wife and children, and had not borne arms against the

1 Supra, p. 125.

JOHN LE STRANGE (III) i 4I

King ; an inquisition held as to the facts of the case found that
Richard's account was the true one. On this an agreement had
been made between the parties, by which Richard was to have his
lands restored to him on paying 300 marks to Hamon in five
instalments spread over three years. 1 The same Rolls contain
lengthy pleadings in a suit of similar nature between Hamon le
Strange and Henry de Longchamp, respecting the lands of the
latter, which had been given to Hamon for five years ; in this case
Hamon had to content himself with enjoying possession of them
for four years only. 2 A third entry sets forth that the prior of
Aynho was summoned for having voluntarily supplied horses to
aid the Earl of Leicester against the King ; the prior proved his
innocence by showing that Hamon came to the house of the fra-
ternity, and, against their will, requisitioned three horses, of which,
however, under persuasion, he restored two to the brethren. 8

Another grant made to Hamon by the King was that of the
manor of Drayton, in Sussex. An inquisition taken at that place
on July 24, 1275, sets forth that Hamon had held that manor in
capite, but some time before his death had enfeoffed Urianus de
Sancto Petro therein, and that he was seised of it on the day of
the death of Hamon ; the latter had doubtless sold it to him to
raise money when starting for the Crusade. 4

The lands of William de Birmingeham, who was slain at the
battle of Evesham, fighting against the King, were granted to
Hamon on the terms of the Dictum de Kenilworth ; an order of
May 16, 1285, shows that these lands were restored to William's
heir after Hamon 's death. 5 A further reward of considerable
value was the grant to Hamon and his heirs, on February 21, I267, 6
of the manor of Ellesmere, with the castle and hundred, and the
manor of Strattondale (Church Stretton), until the King provide
for them in escheats to the value of 100 a year in land ; the King
also undertook to refund any charges which Hamon or his heirs
might have to lay out in repairs.

1 Rot. Select. Placita de terris datis et occupatis occasione turbacionis in regno Anglie,
curd J. Hunter, p. 153. Ibid. p. 173. Ibid. p. 193.

4 P.R.O. Inq. p.m., Chancery series, File n (2).
8 C. Cl. R., 1279-1288, p. 319. C.P.R., 1266-1272, p. 39.

142 LE STRANGE RECORDS

During the summer of 1267 Hamon was again employed on
the Welsh March ; a patent of August 28 was addressed to
Llewelyn ap Griffith, wherein the King said that he understood,
by his letters and messengers, that Llewelyn was about to send
certain of his secretaries 1 and magnates to treat of his peace, and
to obtain the goodwill of the King, on condition that the King
sends one of his faithful to conduct them safely ; and, according
to his request, the King is sending Hamon le Strange to give safe
conduct to Llewelyn, or his secretaries and counsellors, in coming
to the King and returning, in their persons, goods, and households
until September 5. 2 This safe conduct was prolonged on Septem-
ber 4 until the gth of that month. 3 Hamon le Strange appears
to have played a somewhat important part in the negotiations
which, chiefly owing to the efforts of the legate, Cardinal Ottobone,
at length resulted in a definitive treaty of peace, sealed at Shrews-
bury on September 25, 1267, by Henry, Edward, and Llewelyn. 4
The latter obtained, from the weakness of the English king, far
better terms than he or his predecessors had hitherto secured.
He agreed to pay a large sum of money, and acknowledged that
he held his principality of the King, but till then he had aspired
to no higher title than Prince of North Wales, and had usually
been merely styled, by Henry, lord of Aberfraw and Snowdon ;
now, however, he obtained recognition of his title as Prince of
Wales, carrying with it the overlordship of all the Welsh chief-
tains. He was further restored unconditionally to the lordship of
the Four Cantreds, which he had been obliged to renounce in 1247,
while Mortimer and the English Marcher barons were constrained
to acknowledge his legal right to many of their lands in mid- Wales,
on which he had laid violent hands during the days of trouble.
The importance of these concessions and their bearing on English
history has been admirably worked out by Professor Tout in his
essay on 'Wales and the March during the Barons' War.' 5

The grant of forfeited lands did not always enure to the benefit

1 In thirteenth century language, ' secretary ' denotes confidant.

* C.P.R., 1266-1272, p. 156. 8 Ibid. p. 102.

* Fcedera, i. 174, and C.P.R., 1266, 1272, p. 102.
6 Owen's College Historical Essays, IV.

JOHN LE STRANGE (III) 143

of the grantees ; rebels obtained pardons, and complications
arose as to the giving back of their lands. For instance, William
le Botiler obtained remission, on March 3, 1268, of trespasses
committed by him and the members of his household ; his lands
had been granted to David, son of Griffith, Llewelyn's brother,
who with the King's licence had given them to Hamon le Strange,
who in his turn had quitclaimed them to William le Botiler ;
the King ratified the quitclaim, and granted that neither Hamon
nor his heirs should be molested by reason thereof. 1 On March 8,
1268, pardon was given to Hamon, and all those of his household
and fellowship, for trespasses which they were said to have com-
mitted by occasion of the non-observance of the 'Provisions of
Oxford ' ; the King even undertook to make separately a Letter
Patent of this to each of the said household, whenever Hamon
by his Letters Patent should require it. 2 There are several
instances of confirmation by the King of restitutions made by
Hamon on their lands to rebels who had purged their innocence ; 3
it looks as if these lands had been given to a friend to hold until
matters could be arranged.

In spite of these grants of lands, and of the monies received
for their redemption, Hamon was reduced to the necessity of
borrowing from the Jews. On October 24, 1268, he executed a
bond, in which he is described as of the county of Hereford, to
Hagim, son of Master Mosseus, the Jew, for fifty marks, to be
repaid at Michaelmas next. 4

By charter from Edmund [Crouchback], the King's youngest
son, dated November 7, 1268, Hamon received a grant of half
a virgate of land in Penkhull, in the manor of Newcastle-under-
Lyme, with the advowson of the church of Stoke, to be heldrby
him, his heirs or assigns, or any religious house to whom he may
give or assign the same, by rendering yearly at Easter one penny. 5
The Testa de Nevill shows that he was enfeoffed by King Henry
in Foston, part of the honour of Peverel, which had escheated
to the King. 6 Another grant received by Hamon was that of

1 C.P.R., 1266-1272, p. 199. * Ibid. p. 201.

Ibid. pp. 268, 430. P.R.O., Ancient Deeds, D, 48.

C. Ch. R., ii. 1 14. Testa de Nevill (1807), p. 88a.

144 LE STRANGE RECORDS

a moiety of the lands of John de Churchull in Worcestershire,
to be held according to the Dictum de Kenilworth. 1 The castle
and manor of Chartley, in Staffordshire, which had belonged
to Thomas de Ferrers before the disturbances, were also granted
to Hamon on the same terms ; this appears from an inquest,
held after his death, on January 8, 1276, at which the jury certi-
fied that Hamon had unjustly disseised Simon de Cotes of
200 acres, part of the fee of Chartley. 2 Another forfeited manor
which came into Ramon's possession was that of Mancetter,
Warwickshire. An entry on the Roll of Placita de terris datis,
of 1267 records that Henry de Hastings acknowledges that he
owes 67 I2s. to Hamon le Strange for redemption of the manor
of ' Manecestr' ' ; for which William la Zouche, Eudo his brother, and
Thomas de Bray became sureties ; and credence is to be given to
the simple word of Hamon without the burden of any other proof. 8
The manor of Wrockwardine had been held by Hamon by
feoffment of his father some time before 1255, and Eyton 4 shows
that this must have been made with licence from the Crown, since
Hamon appears as tenant in capite thereof on the Hundred
Roll of I255. 5 It has been mentioned 6 that in 1253 Hamon
had a grant of 30 marks for life, or until the King should provide
for him otherwise to that value, and that ten years later the King
had given him the castle and manor of Ellesmere for seventeen
years in lieu of the above grant. 7 In 1265 Ellesmere must have
fallen into the hands of de Montfort, as we find it mentioned
in one of his patents issued on June 18, in the name of the captive
King, among the territories which he was prepared to concede
to Llewetyn in return for the latter's aid against the royalists.
After the defeat and death of de Montfort the King enlarged his
original gift of Ellesmere, which had only been for seventeen
years, by granting it to Hamon and his heirs in fee, as also the
manor of Church Stretton ; 8 about the same time Hamon pur-

C. Ing. P. M., Hen. Ill, i. 282, and C. Cl. R., 1272, 1279, p. 42.

Chancery Inq. p.m., 3 Edw. I, File n (4).

Rot. Select, curd Jos. Hunter, p. 153. * ix. 24.

Rot. Hundred, ii. 56. Supra, p. 120. 7 Supra, p. 130.

Rot. Pat. 51 Hen. III.

JOHN LE STRANGE (III) 145

chased the adjacent manors of Coolmere and Welsh-Hampton
from Sir Peter de Mont fort.

The last embers of the rebellion in England having been ex-
tinguished, and peace patched up with Wales on terms advan-
tageous to Llewelyn, no more fighting remained to be done at
home, so Hamon prepared to accompany his patron and friend,
Prince Edward, who had agreed to follow the King of France
(St. Louis) to Tunis and Palestine on the Crusade of 1270. With
this object, and in order to raise money for his expenses, Hamon
made arrangements for the custody and disposal of his estates.
He enfeoffed his brother Roger in the manors of Ellesmere, Cool-
mere, and Henton. 1 To his brother Robert, who also went on
the Crusade, but more fortunate than Hamon returned from it,
the latter granted the manor of Chawton in Hampshire ; 2 and to
Robert he also granted by charter the manor of Wrockwardine,
though, apparently, the grant was not recognised by the King
until after Hamon's death ; Robert did homage for it in 1274-5
as tenant in capite by service of the twentieth part of a knight's
fee. 3 The manor of Stretton was assigned by Hamon to his
sister Hawyse of Powys, but he exacted from her a written promise
that it should be restored to him on his return from Palestine.
Eyton cites the following fragment of a deed executed for this
object :

Hawisa promisit per assensum mariti sui quod cum frater suus Dominus Hamo
Extraneus rediret a Terra Sancta licet ei intrare manerium de Strattone in Comi-
tatu Salop ; de consensu mariti sui Domini Griffini. Testibus, Domino Rogero
Extraneo, Roberto fratre suo, Odone de Hodnet. 4

Reference to this transaction is made in an undated charter
at the Exchequer, calendared by Sir F. Palgrave :

Carta Hawysie de la Pola de manerio de Strettone concesso Hamoni Extraneo
de retinendo manerium predictum.

Hamon did not obtain the King's licence to his alienation of

1 Misc. Inq. Chancery, i Edw. I, File 32 (14) ; and Col. Genealog. Hen. Ill and
Edw. I, i. 218, No. 85.

* P.R.O. Ancient Deeds, B, 3463. * Rot. Orig. in cur. Scacc., i. 6ia.

Eyton, x. 274; Glover's Coll. A, fo. in.

146 LE STRANGE RECORDS

these manors ; perhaps because he hoped to resume possession,
or possibly because he was raising money on them for his expenses
in going on Crusade, and did not wish to incur additional charges.
We shall see that after the arrival of the news of his death the
grants were not always recognised by the Crown.

Prince Edward sailed from Dover for the Crusade on August 19,
1270, but Hamon cannot have gone until some weeks later, since
his name occurs as witnessing a charter of the King's son Edmund,
executed at Westminster on October 15 of that year. 1 That he
did in fact follow later is confirmed by an entry in the Pipe Roll, 2
which gives the names of eighteen knights who covenanted to sail
in company with the prince, or to follow him. The expenses of
the Crusade had been mainly provided by a subsidy of one-twen-
tieth from the laity of England ; out of this the sum allotted to
each knight who accompanied the prince was 100 marks, with the
exception of Hamon le Strange, who followed after, and received
the sum of 1200 marks, no doubt because he brought eleven other
knights with him.

It was not until January 25, 1271, that letters of special protec-
tion were issued for four years for ' Hamo Lestrange, going beyond
seas in aid of the Holy Land/ and the like to his brother Robert ; 3
and three days later the Patent Rolls contain a grant to ' Hamon
le Strange, crusader, who is going to the Holy Land/ admitting
Leoninus son of Leoninus, and Walter de Eylesbury as his attorneys
for four years. 4 Evidently, therefore, he could not have started
before the end of January 1271. After he had left England a
grant was made on December 30 to Hamon and his heirs of free
warren in his demesne lands in Chawton. 5 In 1271 he had reached
the Holy Land and was again in pecuniary difficulties, and obliged
to borrow money there ; the Exchequer Calendars 6 contain a bond
of his to certain merchants in the parts of the Holy Land, executed
in that year, for the large sum of 375 marks sterling. This loan
may perhaps have been made on account of his marriage.

1 C. Ch. R., 1257-1300, ii. 153.

8 i Edw. I, 2us Rot. comp., quoted in Arch. Journ. viii. 46. [March 1851.]

8 C.P.R., 1266-1272, p. 588. Ibid. p. 589.

8 C. Ch. R., ii. 178. 6 i. 80.

JOHN LE STRANGE (III) 147

The interesting fact, not noticed in any English record or
publication, that Hamon married Isabelle d'Ybelin, Queen of
Cyprus, was discovered by my brother Guy in the French record,
styled the Assizes de Jerusalem, published at Paris by Comte
Beugnot in 1843. In the chapter entitled 'Les Lignages d'Outre-
mer ' 1 is given a long pedigree of the house of Ybelin, derived from
' Balian le Frangois, fre're au comte Giulin de Chartres/ to whom
Fulk of Anjou, King of Jerusalem, gave Ybelin, so that he and
his heirs were called de Ybelin. Balian 's grandson, Jehan, received
the fief of Beyrout from Queen Isabeau of Jerusalem, and he
and his descendants were thereafter known as ' Sire de Baruth,'
or ' Dame de Baruth.' Jean, Sire de Baruth, grandson of the
above-named Jehan, married Aalis, daughter of the Duke of
Athens, and they had a daughter, called Isabeau or Isabelle,
who was married four times. Her first husband was Hugh II,
King of Cyprus, who died at the age of fourteen. Her second
husband was Hamon le Strange ; after his death she married,
thirdly, in 1277, Nicholas Prince of Cesarea, and, fourthly, Guil-
laume Barlais; after all these marriages the chronicler adds,
' Et moru sans heirs/ The passage in the ' Lignages d'Outremer '
which records the marriage to Hamon runs as follows :

Jehan fu Seignor de Bamth puis la mort son frere et esposa Aalis fille dou
Due d'Atenes et orent deus filles, Isabeau et Eschive. Isabeau esposa Hughes
fis de Henry roy de Chipre, qui moru de quatorze ans, si com a este dit ci-
devant ; puis esposa un Engles qui avoit nom Reimont 1'Estrange.

The continuator of the chronicle of William of Tyre, printed
in the 'Recueil des Historiens des Croisades/ also mentions this
marriage :

Anno M.CC.LXXII. En cet ans meismes fu marie la Dame de Baruth a
Sire Heimont 1'Estrange. 2

and the mention of the lady's third marriage in 1277 is proof, if
that were needed, that Hamon was then dead :

Anno M.CC.LXX.VIJ. Nicolas Syres de Cesaire qui novelement avoit espousee
la Dame de Baruth fu occis en Chypre a Nicosie par la main de Syre Baudouin

1 Chap. viii. 448-449. * P. 462 @ Lib. xxxiv. cap. xv.

L 2

148 LE STRANGE RECORDS

d'Ybelin, par echaison qu'il avoit ocis son frere Syre Johan d'Ybelin par haine
et par paroles vilaines qu'il avoit heu ensemble a Nichosie. 1

Hamon must have died very shortly after his marriage, as the
news of his death reached England early in 1273 ; on April 28 of
that year the Sheriff of Shropshire and Staffordshire was ordered
to take into the King's hand the manor of Strattondale, which
was of the ancient demesne of the Crown, and which Hamon had
held in chief and alienated without licence. 2 The inquisition on
his death was taken during the first year of Edward I, which
ended on November 20, 1273, and as it is No. 37 on the Roll was
probably early in that year. 3 It shows that he held in Shropshire
the manors of Ellesmere, Stretton, Colemere, and Henton. Later
inquisitions were held for his lands in Staffordshire and Sussex. 4

Edward I, who did not return to England until August 2,
1274, seems to have considered it one of his first duties to see
that the debts of his late friend and companion in arms were paid.
On October 21 he made an order to deliver to his brother Edmund
the manor of Chaucumb, which had belonged to Hamon, and
which the King had caused to be delivered into his hands with
Hamon's other lands ; he now directed that the issues received
by him therefrom should be given to Peter de Gloria, merchant,
in part payment of debts due to him from Hamon. 5 These debts
must have taken about ten years to pay off, as the Close Rolls
of 1284 contain an order acquitting Henry de Shotbrok of the
issues of the manor of Chaucumb if the treasurer and barons of
the Exchequer ascertain that he has paid them to Peter de Gloria. 6
The manor of Chawton in Hampshire had been granted, as we
have seen, by Hamon to his brother Robert, apparently without
licence, for on February 17, 1275, Edmund, the King's brother,
was appointed at will to the custody of that manor. 7 However,
the King relented, and on July 18 following ordered the Sheriff
of Southampton to cause Robert to have such seisin of the manor

1 Recueil des Historiens des Croisades, p. 479 @ Lib. xxxiv. cap. xxxiv.
1 C.F.R., 1272-1307, i. 4. 8 Inq. p.m. i. 506.

* Ibid. i. 57 ; and i. 650 ; Cal. of Inq. ii. No. 144.

6 C. Cl. R., 1272-1279, p. 106 ; and C. Cl. R., 1279-1288, p. 263.

* Ibid. p. 263. 7 C.P.R., 1272-1281, p. 81.

JOHN LE STRANGE (III) 149

as he had before it was taken into the King's hands on the death
of his brother Hamon. 1

Mention occurs during the reign of Henry III of the following
le Stranges whom I am unable to connect with the main line of
the family.

ROGER LE STRANGE.

The Patent Rolls record that Roger le Strange was presented
on August 4, 1244, to the rectory of Hodnet (in Shropshire),
which was in the King's gift by reason of the voidance of the
abbey of Shrewsbury. 2

Another Roger occurs in an undated Norfolk deed, preserved
at the Record Office, whereby John, called the shoemaker (sutor),
grants to Roger le Straunge and Matilda his wife a messuage
with curtilage and land in Salle, part upon Douestalle, by land of
the lord of Frethorne, part in Sondfelde, and part in the tillage
called Wychelonde. Witnesses : Simon de Fromilode, Walter le
Fraunceys of Frompton, and others (named). 3 This Roger very
probably belonged to the Litcham branch of the family.

GEOFFREY LE STRANGE.

A safe conduct, dated at Bordeaux, September 24, 1242, was
granted to Geoffrey le Strange of Exeter, to pass through the
King's power with his ship called The Ship of St. Mary. 9 ' This
was at the time when Henry had retired to Bordeaux, after his
defeat at Taillebourg and the consequent loss of Poitou.

HENRY LE STRANGE.

The Fine Roll of 1245 records that Luvekinus de Shrewworthin
was impleaded for the death of Henry le Strange, and that he
paid a fine of 2\ marks (equivalent to at least 80 to-day) to the
Sheriff of Salop. 5

1 C. Cl. R., 1272, 1279, p. 203. * C.P.R. { 1232-1247, p. 433.

8 Cat. of Ancient Deeds P.R.O., ii. 374, B, 3165 [Norfolk].

* C.P.R., 1233-1247, iii. 326. Excerpt, e rot. Fin. Hen. Ill, i. 439.

150 LE STRANGE RECORDS

PHILIP LE STRANGE.

Philip le Strange, who is mentioned in connection with the
men of Gloucester, had letters of simple protection on August 28,
1265, until Easter following. 1

RICHARD, SON OF DURAND LE STRANGE.

The Chartulary of Haughmond Abbey, under the heading of
Rowshill in Shrewsbury, mentions that Richard, son of Durand
le Strange, gave a rent of 17^. from a messuage which William
Aurifax holds : ' Teste Ricardo Rustico tune preposito, Peter son
of Peter confirms Teste Gamel, and Reiner, son of Martin, tune
prepositis.' 2 The writer of the paper in the Shropshire Trans-
actions adds in a note, 'These are among our earliest provosts.'

RICHARD, SON OF THOMAS LE STRANGE.

The same Chartulary records, under Stories Close in Shrews-
bury, that William de Clermont, canon of the church of St. Chad,
Salop, gave a croft with the appurtenances ' juxta Wallias ex muro
burg Salop, which he bought from Richard, son of Thomas le
Strange. Teste, Andrew son of Hubert, and Robert Infante
prepositis Salopie.' 3 (Note, early Hen. III.)

ROBERT LE STRANGE.

An undated deed in the Hunstanton Muniment Room 4 is
witnessed by ' Roberto Extraneo ' ; it is a grant from Humfrey
de Wiveleshoe and Matilda his wife to Geoffrey de Oiry of the
advowson and collation of the church of St. Andrew of Great
Ringstead until the full age of Cecilia, daughter and heir of Philip
de Burnham. This deed is quoted by Blomefield, 5 who says,
without giving any authority, that it was dated 25 Hen. Ill
(1240-1). The date is certainly before 45 Hen. Ill, as Cecilia

1 C.P.R., 1258-1266, p. 4461 * Trans. Shrop. Arch, and Nat. Hist. Soc., i. 207.
8 Ibid. i. 211-212. I F.F.g. I s viii. 453.

JOHN LE STRANGE (III) 151

was then the wife of William de Calthorp. 1 If Blomefield is right
in assigning 1240-1 as the date, Robert who witnessed it cannot
have been the fourth son of John (III) and Lucia de Tregoz, as
he would only have been about seven years old, since his eldest
brother John (IV) was born c. 1229. Robert was the last witness
to attest the deed, and it is not likely that a considerable person-
age, such as the ancestor of the house of Blackmere, would have
been placed so low down among the witnesses ; this Robert is
more likely one of the Litcham le Stranges.

I may end this chapter by noticing an early deed, preserved
at the Record Office, which mentions Hunstanton and Heacham,
though it has nothing to do with the family of le Strange. It
is a grant by Roger, son of Ralph Desys of 'Huntstanystune,' to
the prior and convent of St. Pancras in Lewes, in frankalmoign,
of the yearly rent of 55., which he was wont to receive from them
for Thorp mill in ' Hecham.' Witnesses, Hugh de Caly, Albin de
Stanford, and others (named). 2 The Cluniac monastery of St.
Pancras at Lewes had a cell at Heacham, to which the rectory,
the patronage of the vicarage, and the priory manor were appro-
priated ; it was situated on the bank of the stream, a little to
the south of the present manor farmhouse, and the monks
evidently worked the mill for their own purposes, and got it
rent-free under the above grant. The first witness, Hugh de
Caley, held a lordship in Heacham temp. Henry III. The grantor,
under the designation of ' Roger des Hys de Hunstanestun,' witnessed
the deed of John le Strange (IV) to Gilbert de Tychewell, printed
in Chapter I. 3 A Joan 'des Ys' appears in a Norwich deed of
1323-4;* and again, as Joan ' Sys ' of Hunstanton, in another
Norwich deed of 1325. 5

The Manorial Rolls, preserved in the Muniment Room at Hun-
stanton Hall, commence during the time of John le Strange (III).
The earliest relating to the parish of Hunstanton is a Court Roll
'dm Johis ex a nei,' commencing in the fortieth year of Henry III

1 Blomefield, viii. 453.

* Cat. of Ancient Deeds P.R.O., ii. 146, A. 3021 [Norf.]. * Supra, p. 4.

4 W. Rye's Col. Norw. Deeds, 1307-1341, p. 124. * Ibid. p. 129.

152 LE STRANGE RECORDS

(A.D. 1255-6) ; on the dorse thereof are entered the Court Rolls
and a rental of the manor of ' Lucham ' (Litcham) . There is a
Court Roll for Hunstanton of the 5oth and 5ist Hen. Ill, and
others from the 4th to the 34th of Edward I ; also an undated
rental of the same period. The Hunstanton bailiffs' accounts
commence with the 5th year of Edward III, and there are rentals
for that parish for the reigns of Edward I and III. For Ring-
stead the Court Rolls commence with one of the 2Qth Edward I,
but there are bailiffs' accounts of the reign of Henry III. The
Heacham Court Rolls begin on the 4th of Edward I, and the
bailiffs' accounts on the 24th of the same King ; there is a rental
of Henry III, and a collectors' roll of 1279. There is a large col-
lection of title-deeds the earliest dated one being of 1199 they
relate to the parishes of Hunstanton, Ringstead, Holme, Hea-
cham, Sedgeford, Snettisham, Docking, Fring, East Barsham, and
Tottington. An inadequate examination of these muniments
was made in 1871 by the late Mr. Alfred J. Horwood, who only
devoted part of two days to it ; his notes were published by the
Historical Manuscripts Commission ; * a calendar of some letters
preserved here was made by the present writer, and also published
by the Historical Manuscripts Commission in 1887. 2

1 Third Report, App., pp. 271-274. z Eleventh Report, App., pp. 93-118.

LUCIA DE TREGOZ
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CHAPTER V

JOHN LE STRANGE (iv)
1269-1275

JOHN LE STRANGE (IV) was not long-lived like his father and
grandfather, who had held possession of their estates for fifty-
six and thirty-five years respectively ; he was only in possession
for the short period of six and a half years, though he had been
in active public life for more than twenty years previously. Eyton
states * that he did homage for them at Westminster on March
25, 1269 ; he must then have been upwards of forty years of
age. Between 1262 and 1267 he had been enfeoffed by his father
in Rowelton and Elleworthyn, and within the same period John
the younger gave the said tenements to his brother Robert. 2
During his father's lifetime he had made a brilliant marriage,
which eventually added greatly to the territorial influence of his
family ; this must have taken place about 1253 or earlier, as the
Norfolk inquisition on his death in 1276 shows that his eldest
son was then over twenty-two years of age. 3 His wife was Joan,
daughter of Roger de Somery, of Dudley Castle, co. Stafford, by
his first wife Nicola, sister and co-heir of Hugh de Albini, last
Earl of Arundel of that line ; on his death in 1243, the large
estates of the Albini family were divisible between his four sisters
and co-heirs, or their issue, 4 but the inheritance, as we shall see
below, was not actually divided among the co-heirs until after

1 x. 32. 2 Eyton, ix. 241 ; Plac. Coron., 20 Edw. I, m. 6, dorso.

8 Chancery Inq. p.m., 4 Edw. I, File 14 (4). C.I.P.M., i Edw. I, No. 16.

JOHN LE STRANGE (IV) 155

the death of Roger de Somery in 1273, since he was entitled by
the courtesy of England to hold the estates of his first wife for the
term of his life.

Concerning the part taken in the wars of the barons by/John
le Strange (IV) during his father's lifetime I have dealt fully in
the preceding chapter, and have endeavoured to show that Eyton's
strictures on his loyalty are to a great extent undeserved. The
scanty mention of him during the few years that elapsed between
his father's death and his own might seem to lend colour to the
idea that he was out of favour at Court, and no longer in the
confidence of his sovereign ; but it must be remembered that
during the first three of those years Henry III was almost in
his dotage, incapacitated by infirmities of mind and body from
taking much part in affairs of State, and that, at the time of his
death on November 16, 1272, his son and successor was absent in
the Holy Land, and did not return to England until August 2,
1274, just a year before the death of John le Strange.

The following undated deed of John (IV) exists in the~Hun-
stanton Muniment Room : 1

Omnibus Christi fidelibus ad quos presens scriptum peruenerit Dominus
Johannes Extraneus patronus ecclesie de Hunstanston Salutem in Domino
sempiternam. Noueritis me concessisse et hac present! carta mea confirmasse
Willelmo de Secheford, pro me et pro heredibus meis, unam paruam angulam
jacentem iuxta cimiterium de Hunstanston ex una parte, et messuagium eiusdem
Willelmi ex altera parte. Et continet in se, in longitudine ex parte cimiterii
versus occidentem quatuor viginti et octo pedes. Et ex parte messuagii eiusdem
Willelmi versus orientem quatuor viginti et quinque pedes. Et extendit se in
latitudine ad caput aquilonare tresdecim pedes, et ad caput australe quad-
raginta et sex pedes. Habendum et tenendum eidem Willelmo et heredibus suis
libere quiete jure hereditario bene et in pace. Reddendo inde annuatim Altari
ecclesie de Hunstanston ad festum assumptions beate marie Virginis quatuor
denarios pro omnibus seruiciis consuetudinibus exacionibus et demandis. In cuius
rei testimonium huic scripto sigillum meum apposui. Hiis testibus, Domino
Roberto Extraneo, Domino Johanne de Lee, Roberto Bulman, Adam de Mus-
terol, Gilberto de Tychewell, Galfrido Baniard, Ricardo Bosse, Rogero des Ys,
et aliis.

[Seal wanting.]

156 LE STRANGE RECORDS

The date of this deed must be between the years 1269 and
1275, the period for which John (IV) held the estate ; most of the
witnesses are Norfolk men, whose names occur temp. Edward I.
John de Lee married the only daughter of Simon de Furneaux of
Middle Harling ; 1 the Mustrells possessed a manor in Hunstan-
ton, called after them, and Adam de Mustrell gave lands here to
his son Hamon in the 7th of Edward I ; 2 Jeffrey Banyard held
the manor of Gatesthorp, near Harling, at the same period. 3 The
occurrence of these Norfolk witnesses renders it probable that the
above deed was executed at Hunstanton, and if so, it is of interest
as showing that the Shropshire le Stranges visited their Norfolk
estate. The only difficulty connected with the deed is that John
le Strange (IV) describes himself as patron of the church of Hun-
stanton, whereas, as has already been mentioned, 4 his great-grand-
father, John (I), had granted the advowson of that church to the
abbey of Haughmond about a century previously.

Eyton quotes 5 from the Salop Chartulary a charter, which
he takes to have passed about 1269, whereby John le Strange
(IV) grants to Shrewsbury Abbey his mill of Platte, and all suit of
his men thereto in his manors of Ruyton, Middle, Ness, Hopton,
and Kinton : this grant was made in order that the monks of
Shrewsbury might celebrate Mass daily for the souls of himself,
his heirs, his ancestors, and successors. In the same charter he
mentions that a second mill, situated in his park of Ruyton, had
been given to the abbot of Haughmond. Another undated deed
in the chartulary of this abbey 6 shows that a third mill, called
the Heath Mill, was also given to it by John (IV). Eyton 7 gives
the following summary of this grant :

As Johannes Extraneus quartus he gives and confirms, for the souls of himself
and his wife Johanna, his mill of Heath (molendinum de bruerio), with its fishery and
appurtenances, and with timber to repair the same out of his wood of Radenhall
(Rednall), and with a place near the mill convenient for winnowing. One moiety
of the profits of this mill was to go to the canons themselves ; with the other
moiety they were to provide two candles, to burn at the head and foot of the
tomb of the aforesaid Johanna, the grantor's wife. The grantor further concedes
to the canons the stank of the higher vivary, to be raised and repaired for their use

1 Blomefield, i. 314 ; viii. 264. * Ibid. ix. 100 ; x. 322. s Ibid. i. 252.

* Supra, p. 35. 6 x. 113. Fo. 106. 7 x. 114.

JOHN LE STRANGE (IV) 157

and advantage, with earth taken on either side thereof. Lastly, he undertakes
that neither he nor his heirs shall raise the stank of the vivary near the King's
highroad towards Oswestry, nor shall construct any other mill there, so as to
injure the Heath mill.

Eyton further cites a deed of the same benefactor, 1 dated in
1272, by which he gave to Haughmond Abbey one acre of his own
demesne in Ruyton, and the advowson of the church thereof.
Nor did even this exhaust the gifts of John le Strange to the abbey
favoured by so many of his race ; the chartulary shows that he
gave to it the whole land of Caldecote, a member of his home
manor of Knockyn. 2

The Forest Assize Roll of November 1271 contains an entry
as to trespass in the Long Forest of Shropshire 3 by Peter de
Vaux and other dependents of John le Strange junior, at that time
only 17^ years of age, who captured a stag near Middlehope Mill.

For many years there had been rivalry and ill-feeling between
the le Stranges and the Corbets of Caus. In October 1255 Thomas
Corbet brought an action against John le Strange (at that time
junior), alleging that he had taken goods to the value of 700
marks from certain of his manors. 4 Corbet's suit was pending
for seventeen years, and the cumulative damages were rated at
1000 ; an inquest was ordered to investigate the case, but the
result does not appear ; perhaps the matter fell through, owing
to the deaths of both parties within a year of each other.

I have mentioned 5 that Joan, the wife of John le Strange
(IV), did not obtain her share of the Albini lands which she
inherited from her mother Nicola until after the death of her
father, Roger de Somery, in 1273, as he held them for life by the
courtesy of England ; but Joan and her sisters appear to have
made a claim two years before her father's death to some other
lands inherited by them from their maternal grandmother, Mabel,
one of the four sisters and co-heiresses of Ranulph le Meschin,
Earl of Chester. 6 The inquisitions post-mortem of Henry III

1 x. 114. * Trans. Shrops. Arch. Soc., i. 192. * Eyton, vi. 342.

4 Plea Rolls, 56 Hen. Ill, m. n ; Eyton, vii. 25. * Supra, p. 154.

6 He is also styled de Blundevill, from the place of his birth, Oswestry (Album
Monasterium, or Blonde Ville), and under that designation an exhaustive account of
him is given by J. H. Round in the Diet. Nat. Biog.

158 LE STRANGE RECORDS

contain a writ 'ad plenum certiorari,' dated January 26, 1271, 1
on the petition of Ralph de Crumwell and Margaret his wife,
John le Strange and Joan his wife, Walter de Suly and Mabel his
wife, and Henry de Erdington and Maud his wife, concerning the
lands (unspecified) which were of Clemence, sometime Countess of
Chester, and were taken into the King's hands upon her death by
reason of the minority of her heir, Ralph de Somery, lately deceased,
of whom the said Margaret, Joan, Mabel, and Maud claim to
be the heirs. The inquest has unfortunately not been preserved,
and I am inclined to suspect that some mistake has been made
in the writ as to Ralph de Somery, as I cannot understand either
how he could have been the heir of Clemence Countess of Chester,
or how Margaret, Joan, Mabel, and Maud could have been his
heirs. Clemence Countess of Chester was the second wife of
Ranulph le Meschin, Earl of Chester, who died s.p. October 26,
1232 ; she was the daughter of William de Fougeres by Agatha,
sister of William de Humez, constable of Normandy, and sur-
vived her husband twenty years, dying in 1252. What lands she
possessed is not apparent, and the writ above quoted does not
specify them, but Burke 2 says that Ranulph acquired with her,
not only a large accession of lands in France, but also some ex-
tensive manors in England. These lands would have gone to
their four daughters, the second of whom, Mabel, married William
de Albini, Earl of Arundel, and was the mother of Nicola de
Albini, the wife of Roger de Somery, whose daughter, Joan,
married John le Strange (IV). The line of descent will be better
understood by a glance at the pedigree on opposite page.

Roger de Somery died in 1273. The writ for the inquisition
on his death 3 is dated August 26, and shows that he held lands
of his own inheritance in nine counties of England, and also, of
the inheritance of his first wife, Nicola de Albini, the manor
of Barrow-on-Soar, Leicestershire, and that of Campden in Glou-
cestershire. The lands of his own inheritance descended, of
course, to his eldest son Roger, issue of his second wife, Amabel
de Chaucombe, while those of Nicola de Albini were divided

1 File 40, No. 12 ; and Cal. thereof, i. 258, No. 779.

* Extinct Peerage, p. 348. 8 C.I.P.M. Edw. I, ii. pp. 14-16.

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160 LE STRANGE RECORDS

among her four daughters ; her inheritance is expressly stated
to be part of the ' barony of Chester,' which had come to her
from her uncle, Earl Ranulph, ' de terra quam praedictus Rogerus
tenuit tanquam partem baroniae Cestriae ipsum contingentem
per Nicholaam de Albiniaco uxorem suam primam, unam de
heredibus Hugonis de Albiniaco comitis Arundell', qui fuit unus
de heredibus Ranulphi quondam comitis Cestriae.' 1 The par-
tition took some months to arrange, and it was not until April 12,
1274, that the escheator this side Trent was ordered to deliver
to John le Strange the lands which the King had assigned as the
purparty of Joan, sister and co-heiress of Nicola and Hugh and
John's wife ; the extent thereof is worth giving in full, as it affords
a good idea of the very varied items which made up the revenue
from a manor in the thirteenth century :

In the manor of Barrow 5 virgates of land, 12 acres of meadow upon the bank
and elsewhere in parcels, an acre and an acre and a half of several pasture, a
quarter of two water-mills, a quarter of the park, to wit, 90 acres by the extent, .
and 300 acres of the foreign wood ; and of the free tenants, from William son of
Adam, for a virgate of land, 45. ; from the heirs of Robert Martin, for 2 virgates
of land and an assart, I2d. and 20 barbed arrows, price 10^. ; Robert son of
Ralph, for a bovate of land, 35. o%d. ; Robert de Fornham, for 4 bovates of land,
35. ; Walter le Sauser, for a virgate of land, a pound of pepper, worth 8d. ; Roger
le Erie, for an assart, 2s. ; John le Despenser, for a cultura, izd. ; Preciosa de
Staunton, for 4 virgates of land in Friseby, a quiver and 13 arrows, worth i8d. ;
Turgis de Birleye for an assart, 6d. ; Walter le Sauser, for an acre and a half,
i$d. ; from the customary tenants, to wit, Richard Pars, Richard le Carpenter,
William Beu, William Dane, William son of Thomas le Chat, John Brid, William
le Doneur, John 'Hervy, John Oy, Gilbert Flory, Robert de Soley, each of whom
holds a virgate of land ; of the cottars, Henry Campion, Matilda Bridd, Henry
le Plomer, each of whom renders yearly, with the rents of boon-works and tallages,
2s. ; Richard le Fevre, for a cottage-holding [cotsend], 2s. ; Matilda Sturnell for a
cottage-holding, 18^. ; Henry le Charetter, for a cottage-holding and 3 selions, 2
35. 4^. ; Geoffrey le Messer, for 2 cottage-holdings, 35. 4^. ; Turgis Erley for an
acre, 6d. ; John le Saler, for a bovate of land, 2s. ; Thomas Felach, for a bovate
and an acre of land, 35. id. ; John Herebert, for an assart, iqd. ; from the holders
of wood-houses (wodehusis), to wit, John Hervy, for 4^ acres of land, 45. ; Thomas
Felach, for 3| acres, 35. 6d. ; Ralph son of Geoffrey, for 3 acres, 35. in the same
manors ; and in the manor of Caumpeden, from the customary tenants of Westing-
ton ; William Det, for half a burgage, 6d. ; Dionysia the nurse, for half a burgage,

1 Calendarium Genealogicum Hen. Ill and Edw. I, i. 196, No. 15.
* A strip of land, or furrow.

JOHN LE STRANGE (IV) 161

i8d. ', William King for a burgage, 2od. ; John Prest, for a burgage, 2od. ; Robert
Davy, for half a burgage, 4^. ; John de Aldeswell for half a burgage, 6d. ; Philip le
Feytur, for half a burgage, i6d. ; Agnes Buffard, for a burgage, i6d. ; Walter le
Mouner, for a burgage and a stall, iSd. ; Richard Child, for half a burgage, Sd. ;
John Fressaunt, for a burgage, i%d. ; Thomas de Burton, for half a burgage, 8d.;
Thomas Botte, for half a burgage, Sd. ; Walter Hamelyn, for half a burgage, 8d. ;
Walter de Blockele, for half a burgage, 8d. ; Robert le Messer, for 2 burgages,
2s. 6d. ; William Kyng, for a burgage, I2d. ; Thomas Eadmund, for a burgage,
I2d. ; Thomas Fawkes, for half a burgage, 6d. ; William King, for 2 stalls, I2d. ;
William Thurbern, for a messuage, 2d. ; Isolda de Thounshull, for a messuage, 2d. ;
Ranulph Papelard, for a messuage with a stall, 8d. ; Simon Grinell, for half a
burgage, 8d. ; Robert de Fornham for a burgage, 10^. ; and in Westington and
Britton, Walter de Coningate, who holds a virgate, Gilbert atte Grave, who holds
a virgate, Alice the widow, who holds a virgate ; Walter Austyn, who holds a
virgate, Richard de Rales, who holds a virgate ; Nicholas Hamard, who holds a
virgate; Roger Abovenchirche, who holds a virgate; Albred' de Molend[ino]
of Birton, who holds half a virgate, and Adam le Fevere, who holds half a virgate
of land ; the heir of Walter le Despenser, for a burgage in Winchecumbe, gd. ;
Alexander le Mir, for a cottage, 8d. The King has committed this pourparty to
John, to hold until his return to England, on condition that John shall then
answer to the King for the issues thereof, if the King wish to have them. 1

Cecily, the fourth daughter of William de Albini, and sister
of Nicola, the wife of Roger de Somery, obtained as her share
of the Albini inheritance the manors of Kenninghall and Castle
Rising, in Norfolk ; she married Roger de Montalt, of Hawarden, in
Flintshire, and the estates eventually descended to their second son,
Robert de Montalt, who died in 1275. The inquest on his death, 2
dated October 7, 1275, gives an extent of the manor of Rising, which
mentions, among the knights' fees held of it, that five were
held by John le Strange, viz. ' Hunstaneston, Geyton, Sneterton
[alias Snytreton], Ryngested, and Holm.' On October 28 these
five fees were among those which were assigned as dower to Joan,
late the wife of Robert de Monte Alto. 3 Robert was succeeded by
his eldest son Roger, who died without issue in 1297, his brother
Robert being his heir ; he too had no issue, and was the last of
the Montalts ; during his lifetime, in consideration of a sum of
10,000 marks paid by the King, Robert settled Castle Rising and

1 C. Cl. R. 2 Edw. I, 1272, 1279, pp. 76-77.
* C.I. P.M. Edw. I, ii. p. 84, No. 128.
3 C. Cl. R. Edw. I, 1272-1279, p. 215.

162 LE STRANGE RECORDS

his other extensive estates on Queen Isabella, mother of Edward
III, and in consequence of this settlement it was that Castle
Rising became a place at which she frequently resided during
the twenty-seven years of her widowhood, though the story that
she was a prisoner there has been disproved by the researches
of Mr. Alan Swatman and Mr. Henry Harrod. 1

One of the Domesday manors which were eventually swallowed
up in constituting the Chatellany or Fee of Knockin was Moreton.
Eyton mentions 2 that John le Strange (IV) mortgaged this vill
to Rhys ap Griffith for 120 marks, 100 of which were subsequently
paid off by John, in the shape of a Destrier, worth 80 marks, and
a palfrey, worth 20 marks. These high-priced Dextrarii, which
were sometimes valued at 100 and even 120 marks, were the slov. r
but powerful shire-horses, only ridden by the barons and richest
bannerets. This mortgage got le Strange into trouble, as King
Edward, on visiting the border, found the vill in the hands of
a Welshman, and promptly confiscated it ; an inquest was held
in January 1277, on the petition of John le Strange (V), 3 who had
then succeeded his father, and it appears that the vill, no doubt
for some valuable consideration, was subsequently restored to
him, as it is expressly included in a feodary of 1397-8 as part
of the fees which John le Strange of Knockyn then held in the
barony of fitz Alan. 4

It will be remembered that in December, 1263, Griffith ap
Gwenwynwyn, Prince of Upper Powys, and brother-in-law of
John le Strange (IV), had transferred his allegiance from the
English Crown to Llewelyn. 5 This alliance was recognised by
the peace effected in 1267 between the King and Llewelyn, and
Griffith remained a vassal of the latter for about twelve years.
An excellent paper on ' The Princes of Upper Powys,' by the
Hon. and Rev. G. T. O. Bridgman, 6 gives the history of Griffith
and his widow. In 1275 there was a rupture between Llewelyn
and the lord of Powys in consequence of which the territory of
the latter was again placed under English protection : Griffith

1 Harrod's Castles and Convents of Norfolk, pp. 32-42. * x. 364.

3 Inquis. p.m., 5 Edw. I, No. 60. * C.I.P.M., iii. 223. 5 Supra, p. 130.

6 Montgomeryshire Collections of the Powysland Club, i. 22-50.

JOHN LE STRANGE (IV) 163

ended his life as he had begun it, a subject of the English king,
and transmitted his lands to his heirs to be held as an English
barony. His son and successor, known as Owen de la Pole
i.e. Owen of [Welsh] Pool at the Parliament of Shrewsbury,
in 1283, expressly resigned to the King his title and coronet of a
prince (nomen et circulum Principatus), and his lands, receiving
back the latter to be held in free baronage of England. 1 On
August 28, 1277, Griffith executed a confirmation of an earlier
charter by which he had granted to his wife Hawyse certain
lands viz. the land of Dendover ; three towns in Coiddwr ; the
town of Argegvoet ; three towns in Caereinion ; some pastures
in Cyveiliog ; a free burgage at Treffnant ; and the town of Llan-
debo, &c. The first secular witnesses to this grant are Hawyse's
brother, Roger le Strange of Ellesmere, and her nephew, John le
Strange (V) of Knockin. 2

In June, 1283, Griffith was acting against Gwynnedd, 3 and in
that month was summoned to the Parliament held at Shrewsbury
for the trial of David. 4 The year 1283 is generally given as the
date of his death, but Professor Tout has shown 5 that he was alive
on February 27, 1286, as is shown by a deed of his dated at Bot-
tington on Ash Wednesday, 14 Edw. I. 6 His wife Hawyse (le
Strange) survived him for many years. During his lifetime she
had acquired the manor of Church Stretton by the gift of her
brother Hamon, who had died in Palestine. After the news of
Hamon 's death arrived, the manor was seized for the King because
Hamon had alienated it without licence, but afterwards, by the
King's order, the whole revenue thereof was paid to Hawyse.
In his patent of January n, 1278, the King recites that, having
granted to Hawyse, late the wife of Griffith ap Wenwynwyn, the
manor of Strattondale to hold at will, if he wished at any time
to resume it, he undertook to assign her for life twenty librates
of land in some competent place, such assignment to revert to
the King on the death of Hawyse. 7 She enjoyed the manor for

1 Montgomeryshire Collections of the Powysland Club, pp. 257-423.

* Cal. of various Chancery Rolls, 1277-1326 ; Welsh Rolls, p. 179.

3 Cal. Welsh Rolls, p. 266. * Fcedera, i. 630.

8 Diet. Nat. Biog., xxiii. 304. C. Cl. R., 1279-1288, p. 413.

7 Welsh Rolls, i. 162.

164 LE STRANGE RECORDS

the whole of her life, but a year before her death Edward II issued
an inquisition Ad quod damnum 1 to ascertain its value, the result
of which is given by Eyton as follows : 2

The Inquest reported that the collective tenants of the manor and Vale paid
assized rents of 12 los. These rents were for lands of ancient tenure, for the site
of a certain ancient manor (probably Stretton Castle), for arable lands, formerly
constituting the manorial demesne, and for the labour-dues of the Villeins as
valued a long time back. The meadow land of the manor was worth 2 per
annum. A separate pasture in the King's bosc of Ragelyth, and within the bounds
of the Long Forest, was worth 6s. 8d. yearly. The underwood thereof could not
be taken into account, because it was kept as a covert for game, and there was no
high timber therein. The bosc called Wymbrghtoneswode consisted "of lofty oaks.
The pesson 3 thereof was worth 6s. 8d. yearly ; the pasturage was common ;
and there was no underwood. A water-mill was worth 135. 4^. ; two Vivaries
were worth los. yearly. A custom called Passagium carectarum 4 produced 2os.,
and the pleas and perquisites of the manor court produced 2 135. 4^. The
whole valuation amounted to 20 per annum, and there was the common pasture
of the Stretton Hills, which pasture was about 20 leagues in circumference.
This was not valued, because it was open to the whole country. The advowson of
the church belonged to the manor. The church was worth 20 per annum.

Another extent was ordered by writ of October 26, 1309, the
King having granted the manor to Edmund Earl of Arundel if he
should survive Hawyse de la Pole. She outlived her son, Owen
de la Pole, and at his death the custody of the castle of la Pole,
and the lands which had belonged to him, were assigned to her. 5
In 1307-8, though Hawyse was still alive, Edward II gave the
custody of Pole Castle and lands to Griffith de la Pole, younger
brother of Owen, and uncle to his children, Griffith and Hawyse
de la Pole ; Griffith died on June 25, 1309, leaving Hawyse his
heiress. Her marriage to John de Charlton, a Shropshire knight, an
officer of Edward II's Court and ultimately his chamberlain, secured
for her husband and his house the permanent possession of the land
of Pool as an English barony. Griffith, the uncle, was robbed of
his guardianship, and his efforts to win back Pool, helped by his le
Strange kinsfolk, led to a feud that lasted till 1330, and fluctuated
as the tide of royal and baronial successes ebbed and flowed. 6

1 2 Edw. II, No. 122. ' xii. 26.

3 Mast, acorns, or nuts. * A toll on carts passing through the vill.

5 Rot. Orig. Abbrev., 23 Edw. I, No. 8.

c See art. in Diet. Nat. Biog. on Charlton, by Professor Tout, x. 125.

JOHN LE STRANGE (IV) 165

Hawyse, the grandmother, died in November, 1310. 1 The silver
matrix of her seal was found in digging a foundation at Oswestry
in the middle of the last century, and is now in the Shrewsbury
Museum. It is an interesting example of heraldry of about 1300 ;
it represents a female, standing, clothed in kirtle, long mantle,
low-crowned reticulated cap, and gorget ; she holds a shield in
either hand, the dexter one charged with the arms of her husband,
a lion rampant, and on the sinister one those of her father, two
lions passant. The legend round the seal reads : *S' HAWISIE DNE
DE KEVEOLOG ' (Cyveiliog) . A small piece of the lower point of the
seal beneath the feet of the figure has been broken off, but with
this exception it is as perfect as when it was made ; there is
no handle, but it has a small ring welded on to the back. An
engraving of this seal was published in the ' Archaeologia Cambren-
sis' (5th series), ix. 10, and the woodcut was lent to the Archaeo-
logical Institute, and was reproduced in their Journal, x. 143, in
the year 1853 ; it is also engraved in the ' Montgomeryshire Col-
lections,' i. 49. I have been able to get an excellent photograph
of an impression made from the original, which is reproduced on
Plate X, p. 370, and gives a more accurate representation of it
than the woodcuts of the last century could render.

A considerable number of encaustic tiles, bearing heraldic
designs of the early part of the fourteenth century, were found
on the site of the Cistercian abbey of Strata Marcella, some of
them bearing the le Strange lions. As Hawyse held as part of
her dower the manor of Buttington, which is only separated
from the site of the abbey by the river Severn, it is natural to
suppose that she was a benefactress to the abbey, and that her
paternal arms should be found there. 2

The latest date on which I can find proof that John le Strange
was alive is May 23, 1275, on which day he released and quit-
claimed to his brother Robert all his right in the manor of Wrock-
wardine by deed dated at ' Le Knokyn ' on Ascension Day, 3
Edw. I. 3 He must have died before November 20 following, as the
Hundred Rolls of 3 Edw. I, which regnal year ended on that day,

1 Inq. p.m., 4 Edw. II, No. 39. * Arch. Cambr. (5th series), ix. 10, n.

8 Rot. Claus., 3 Edw. I, m. 15, dorso.

166 LE STRANGE RECORDS

contain an inquisition held in the Hundred of Smethedon, where-
at the jurors found that, on the death of John le Strange, the manor
of Hunstanton, though not held in capite, was taken into the
King's hands, and that the escheator levied from it one hundred
shillings, and a horse worth twenty shillings. 1 John le Strange
can only have been about forty-five years old at this time ; the
cause of his death at so early an age is given by the subjoined
entry in the bailiffs' accounts of Shrewsbury, which shows that
he was drowned in the Severn :

ii septimanas post Epiphaniam Domini anno quarto [January, 1276] Md.
quod Petrus Gerard et Rogerus Pride, Coronatores villae Salop solverunt ad
scaccarium pro equo domini Johannis Extranei submersi xxs. 2

A note on this passage in the 'Transactions 'quoted points out
that submersi agrees with domini and not with equo, but suggests
that probably the horse and not his rider was drowned, as only
2os . was paid . This con j ecture ignores the actual facts which caused
the making of this entry. I am indebted to Mr. Walter Rye for
explaining to me the real bearing of the entry. It means that
John le Strange was drowned while on horseback, and that his
horse was consequently taken as a deodand, and the coroners had
to account for its value to the royal exchequer. Dr. Co well,
writing in 1607, gives the following explanation of the word in
his ' Interpreter ' :

Deodandum is a thing given, or rather forfeited, as it were, to God, for the
pacification of his wrath in case of Misadventure, whereby any Christian man
cometh to a violent end, without the fault of any reasonable creature ... to
be sold and distributed to the poor, for an expiation of that dreadful event,
though effected by unreasonable, yea, senseless, and inanimate Creatures.

The Hunstanton inquisition, quoted at the top of this page,
shows that 2os., the equivalent of about 40 to-day, was then a
usual price for a horse.

Three months or more were allowed to elapse before the issue
of the writs of ' Diem Clausit Extremum ' to the escheators of the
various counties in which John le Strange held lands ; on Feb-

1 Rot. Hundr. temp. Hen. Ill et Edw. I, i. 5236.
8 Trans. Shrops. Arch. Soc. (2nd series), iii. 68.

JOHN LE STRANGE (IV) 167

mary 26, 1276, these writs were sent to the Sheriffs of Salop,
Northampton, Leicester, Norfolk, and Gloucester, directing them
to hold inquisitions, and to take into the King's hand all lands
held in chief by the deceased. 1 On March 21 the Sheriff of Lei-
cester was ordered to seize the pourparty of John, son of John
le Estraunge, one of the heirs of Nicola, late the wife of Roger
de Somery, of her lands in Barrow-on-Soar ; 2 and three days
later, viz. on March 24, the Sheriffs of Northampton, Gloucester,
Salop, and Norfolk were ordered to deliver to Roger le Strange all
the lands late of John le Strange deceased, tenant-in-chief, as the
King had committed them to him during pleasure. 3 As John's
heir was of full age it is not apparent why the lands should have
been committed to anyone else, and indeed it is open to doubt as
to which of his uncles they were committed, whether to Roger, the
elder of the two, or to Robert ; the Fine Roll just quoted says
that it was to Roger, but the Close Rolls contain an order, dated
May 1 6, directing Robert le Strange, keeper of the lands that
belonged to John le Strange, to cause John, son and heir of the
said John, to have seisin of his father's lands, as the King has
taken his homage for them. 4

The Shropshire inquisition on the death of John (IV), which
is undated, sets forth that he held in Kinton and Ness four cam-
cat es of land in chief by the service of one knight ; also the
manor of Knockin of the heirs of Robert de Halhtone [Haughton]
by service unknown ; also the manors of Ruyton and Middle
of the heirs of John fitz Alan by service of i\ knights, but
Isabella, the wife of John fitz Alan, is dowered of the said ser-
vice. Kinton and Ness were worth 10 ; Knockin 20, and the
Walcheria de Knockin 30. Ruyton and Middle were worth 30.
John, son of the said John, is the heir and of the age of 22^
years. 5

The Northampton inquisition, which, like all those on John
(IV), is undated, states that he held nothing in capite, but held
of the heirs of Roger de Somery in the manor of Botindon one

1 C.F.R., 1272-1307, i. 66. * Ibid. i. 67.

3 Ibid., 1272-1307, i. 67. * C. Cl. R., Edw. I, 1272-1279, p. 288.

8 Chancery Inq. p.m., 4 Edw. I, File 14 (4).

168 LE STRANGE RECORDS

messuage worth 2s. per annum, i carucate of land with meadow
and pasture, and in villeinage 10 virgates, and 30 solidates
and yd., and ' unam sagittam barbatam ' of rent, all held in free
marriage, rendering nothing. 1

The jurors who sate on the Gloucestershire inquisition say
that the said John held of the King in chief in the vill of Campden
one messuage, worth by the year 155., and 2 carucates of arable
land, which are worth by the year, with the meadows and pas-
tures adjoining, 10 marks ; and in the borough of Campden, of
rent assize by the year 235. uj^., and 14 virgates of land and
12 acres in villeinage, which are worth by the year 7 75. 6d. :
and his part of 4 mills, worth fy : and the pleas and perquisites
by the year \ a mark. Sum, 25 65. ^d. The said John held
nothing of the King in the said county except the said tenement,
which he held in chief of the King by barony in pourparty with
the heirs of Arundel ; and he and the other parceners held the
fourth part of all the lands, tenements, and fees which were of
the Earl of Arundel, but the jurors do not know how much of the
service belongs to the part of the said John in Campden. 2

The Norfolk inquest is somewhat defective, but, as Eyton
points out, it is of great importance as proving something of what
has been asserted above concerning the early history of the family,
so I give an extended version of the copy at the Record Office : 8

Inquisitio f acta per Adam de Musterell [and others] quantum terre Johannes le
Estraunge tenuit de domino Rege in capite in comitatu Norfolciensi die quo obiit,
et quantum de aliis, et per quod servicium, et quantum terre ille valeant per
annum in diversis serviciis, redditibus, villenagiis et omnibus aliis exitibus terre
et quis propinquior heres ei sit, et ejus etatis. Qui dicunt [super] sacramentum
suum quod prefatus Johannes nihil tenuit de domino Rege in capite in comitatu
Norfolciensi die quo obiit. Set tenuit manerium [de] Hunstanston ex una parte
aque de heredibus comitis Arundell per servicium quinque feodorum militum.
Et ex altera parte aque [* * *]ina de Milham per servicium feodi unius militis.

Dicunt etiam quod idem Johannes tenuit in dominico suo xv acras terre ara-
bilis quarum quel[ibef] acra valet per annum in omnibus exitibus viij denarios,
unde summa decem librarum. Item tenuit inde servicia et redditos tarn liberorum
quam villanorum unde summa est in omnibus exitibus xviij.li. xvj.s. i.d. Item

1 Chancery Inq. p.m., 4 Edw. I, File 14 (4). * Ibid.

3 Ibid., 4 Edw. I, File 14 (4) ; New Calendar II, No. 187.

JOHN LE STRANGE (IV) 169

tenuit molendinum quod valet per annum xl.s. Et idem tenuit pasturam que valet
per annum in omnibus exitibus ij .s. Item dicunt quod perquisitum curie valet per
annum in omnibus exitibus xx.s. Unde summa summarum xxxj. li., xviij. s.,
j .d. Item dicunt quod Johannes films predicti Johannis propinquior heres ejus est.
Et credunt ipsum esse etatis xxij annorum et amplius.

It is not impossible from the concluding words that during
the few years for which John (IV) held the property he and his
son had found little time to reside much at Hunstanton, since the
age of the heir was only a matter of hearsay ; yet that John (IV)
was there once, at all events, is shown by the deed quoted in
Chapter I, 1 in which he mentioned his ancestor Roland ; the fact
that the deed, witnessed almost exclusively by Norfolk men, was
found in the Muniment Room at Hunstanton is presumptive
evidence that it was executed there, and has never since left the
place. The considerable amount of land in hand, 300 acres of
arable besides pasture, seems to imply the existence of a manor-
house requiring a large farm to supply it. The ' water ' mentioned
in the inquest is of course the small brook rising in the park,
which forms the moat and, lower down, the mill waters, and
thence runs north-east into the sea at Holme ; this watercourse
was the boundary between the two distinct fiefs which were held
by John (I), that on one side inherited from his father and held
under fitz Alan by the service of five knights' fees ; that on the
other inherited from his mother, Matilda le Bran, and held by
service of one knight's fee under William de Albini. It would be
interesting, but is, I fear, impossible, to ascertain which manor is
on which side of the water.

Hamon, the second son of John (III) and Lucy de Tregoz,
who died in Palestine, has already been dealt with ; the third
son, Roger of Little Ercall and eventually of Ellesmere, lived
until 1311, all through the time of his nephew John (V), so his
biography will more conveniently be given in the same chapter
as that of his nephew. Robert, the fourth son, was the progenitor
of the house of Blackmere. It has already been mentioned 2 that
he was in arms with his brothers Hamon and Roger against Simon
de Montfort in 1265, and that he was one of the lords Marcher

1 Supra, p. 4. * Ibid., p. 136.

170 LE STRANGE RECORDS

whom the Earl of Leicester vainly endeavoured to send over to
Ireland to get them out of his way. We have also seen l that
when Robert went to the Crusade with his brother Hamon, the
latter granted to him the manor of Chawton in Hampshire, as
well as that of Wrockwardine in Shropshire ; and that, more
fortunate than his brother, Robert lived to return and enjoy
these manors. It was perhaps on his journey home that Robert
experienced what was in those days a very serious loss, that of
his seal ; so much concerned was he lest it should be put to any
improper use that he took the trouble to appear at the Curia
Regis in Michaelmas term 1275, and on his petition the following
entry was made in two separate Rolls :

Robertus le Estraunge venit et dicit quod amisit sigillum suum in quo scrip-
turn est ejus nomen, et petit quod si aliquod scriptum decetero fuerit sigillatum
predicto sigillo id pro nullo habeatur. 2

We may perhaps regard this precaution as being the thirteenth
century equivalent of stopping a cheque.

Like his brother Hamon, Robert, after the battle of Evesham,
was rewarded for his loyalty to the King by a grant at the expense
of one of the rebellious citizens of London. The Patent Roll of
October 19 records a grant 3 to Robert le Estraunge of a capital
messuage in the City of London, late of John de Turri, the King's
enemy. Another entry in the same Roll, on June 28, 1266, shows
that Robert was still in the King's good graces, as a pardon is
granted at his request to Hugh Corbet for the death of Adam le
Ventrer. 4

The manor of Sutton, with Rowton and Ellardine, had been
sold between 1262 and 1269 by Madog de Sutton to John le
Strange (III) ; he enfeoffed his son and heir, John (IV), therein,
and the latter granted these manors to his younger brother Robert. 5
On August i, 1267, Robert exchanged two of these manors with
Giles de Erdington, who granted to him the manor of Marbury,

1 Supra, p. 145.

* Coram Rege Rolls, 3 Edw. I, bundle 18, memb. 19 ; and bundle 19, memb. 2,
dorso.

3 C.P.R. Hen. Ill, 1258-1266, p. 468. * Ibid. p. 611.

5 Eyton, ii. 118, 120; Placite Corone, 20 Edw. I, Salop, memb. 16, dorso.

JOHN LE STRANGE (IV) 171

in Cheshire, with the land of Halehurst, Salop, for the yearly rent
of a rose at midsummer ; in return for which Robert granted to
Giles all his land in Rowton and Ellardine for 735. yearly rent ;
the deed was witnessed by Robert's brother Hamon. 1

Another manor given to Robert in reward for his loyalty was
that of Wililey or Willey, in Salop ; the previous owner, Andrew
de Wililey, had fallen at the battle of Evesham, and Robert le
Strange acquired the manor on the terms of the Dictum de Kenil-
worth ; he appears to have held it for about ten years before it
was redeemed by Burga, daughter and heiress of Andrew, and
wife of William de Stapleton, whose claim to it, mentioned in
the Coram Rege Rolls 2 for 1275, must have been successful, as,
after Robert's death in the following year, the Sheriff was ordered
to cause an extent to be made of the lands in Wililey, late of Andrew
de Wililey, who was slain fighting against Henry III, which lands
Robert le Strange held of the gift of that king on the terms of
the Dictum de Kenilworth, and which lands were in the King's
hands on account of Robert's debts ; the Sheriff was directed
to deliver to William de Stapleton, whose son had taken to wife
the daughter and heir of the said Andrew, the said lands to be
tilled and sown during the King's pleasure, the Sheriff answer-
ing yearly for the said extent. 3 On January 18, 1278, the Sheriff
was ordered to deliver these lands to Philip and Burga. 4

On his return from the Crusade Robert took measures to
obtain seisin of the manors which he had acquired from his
brother Hamon. The deed, already mentioned, by which the latter
made over to him the Hampshire manor of Chawton is undated,
but an entry in the ' Calendarium Genealogicum ' 5 shows that
Robert was enfeoffed therein in the Holy Land. Wrockwardine
had been made over before the brothers started for Palestine ;
but after Hamon's death in 1274 the Sheriff took possession of
it on the ground that it had been alienated without licence ; it
was held for the King for about two years, but on May 23, 1275,
John le Strange (IV) of Knockin quitclaimed any right that he had

1 Cal. Anc. Deeds, P.R.O., iii. 432, D, 227. * 3 Edw. I, bundle 16, memb. 15.
8 C.F.R., 1272-1307, i. 76. * Ibid. p. 91.

Cal. Gen. Hen. Ill and Edw. I, i. 227, No. 52.

172 LE STRANGE RECORDS

in the manor to his brother Robert ; * and on June 10 following
the Sheriff of Salop was ordered to deliver it to Robert, to be
held by him in chief by the service of a twentieth part of a
knight's fee, and at the farm due at the Exchequer, he having
done homage for it. 2 Robert only survived his eldest brother,
John (IV) of Knockin, for about a year : the latter was drowned,
as we have seen, in the autumn of 1275, and Robert died before
September, 1276, as on the loth of that month the Sheriff
of Southampton was ordered to cause Eleanor, late the wife
of Robert le Estraunge, tenant-in-chief, to have yearly 30 of
the manor of Chawton, which belonged to Robert, as the King
has committed the said land to her until dower is assigned ;
the whole manor had been extended at 40. 3 The wife of Robert
le Strange was Alianora, or Eleanor, second daughter and
co-heiress of William de Whitchurch [de Albo Monasterio], from
whom he ultimately acquired and transmitted to his descen-
dants a considerable inheritance ; William, who died before June
n, 1260, left four daughters ; the eldest, Berta, was an imbecile,
and died in 1281 ; 4 the fourth of the manor of Whitchurch,
which had escheated to the King by reason of her imbecility, was
granted by him to her sister Eleanor to hold at will at a rent
of 17 I2s. per annum. 5 The third daughter, Johanna, married
William de Barentyn ; and Matilda, the youngest, was the wife
of Robert de Brascy. Fulk, the son of Robert le Strange and
Alianora, eventually inherited his mother's third of Whitchurch,
and apparently purchased the two other thirds, as at his death
in 1324 the inquest finds him to have been seised of the whole
manor. Shortly after Robert's death his widow married Bogo
de Knovill, then Sheriff of Shropshire, but had no issue by him.
Eyton, to whom I am indebted for most of these particulars, 6
mentions that she was buried at High Ercall, and that she was
probably living in 1301, but died before 1306 ; he says that

' Her monument consists of a slab of grey marble, sometime inlaid with

1 C. Cl. R., 1272-1279, p. 237. * C.F.R., 1272-1307, i. 48.

3 C. CL R., 1272-1279, p. 309 ; C.P.R., 1272-1281, p. 442.

* C.I.P.M., Edw. I, ii. 226, No. 387.

6 C.F.R., i. 127 ; C.P.R., 1272-1281, p. 375. 6 x. 21-25.

JOHN LE STRANGE (IV) 173

a fleury cross and two shields of arms, but the brasswork of these is gone.
Her epitaph remains :

DAME ALIANORE LESTRANGE DE BLANCMINSTER GIST ICI. DIEU DE SA ALME
EIT MERCI.

That Alianora's monument existed in High Ercall Church when
Eyton wrote in 1860 there can be little doubt, but it is a matter
of deep regret to have to record that when I visited the church in
September 1915 not a trace of it was to be found. The church
was restored in 1864-5, under the direction ol the late George
Edmund Street, R.A., an architect of the highest repute, and
it is unthinkable that he could have failed to preserve an ancient
monument such as this, had it then been in situ ; yet careful
inquiries on the spot have been unsuccessful in eliciting any
information from anyone who remembers it, or can throw any
light on its disappearance. Fortunately a good water-colour
sketch of it exists in the British Museum, among the Drawings
of Ancient Monuments in Shropshire, 1792-1803, by the Rev.
Edward Williams, 1 which in every respect confirms Eyton's descrip-
tion, and further mentions that the slab of marble was situated
' towards the east end of the north aisle/

Robert le Strange at his death left three sons, John, Fulk, and
Robert, all of them under age, in consequence of which the eschea-
tor took possession of his lands in the King's name, 2 regardless of
the fact that the two younger sons had been enfeoffed during their
father's lifetime in certain of his manors. John, the eldest son,
inherited Wrockwardine, but the custody of that manor was com-
mitted by the King to Anian, Bishop of St. Asaph, at an annual
fee-farm rent of 8, until John should be of full age. 3 He made
proof of age in September 1287, and had livery of his paternal
inheritance, 4 but died without issue in less than two years ; the
writ of Diem clausit is dated June 18, 1289, and the inquisitions
find that his heir was his brother Fulk, then twenty-one or twenty-
two years of age. 5 This John of Wrockwardine is usually styled
Lord of Whit church, which, as Eyton points out, 6 is inaccurate ;

1 Add. MSS. 21,236, vol. i. 129. C.F.R., i. 260.

3 Rot. Orig. in Scacc., i. 2ja. Inq. 15 Edw. I, File 49 (13).

6 Inq. p.m., 17 Edw. I, No. 17. x. 23.

174 LE STRANGE RECORDS

iiis mother, whose inheritance it was, was alive at the time of his
death, and he consequently was never seised of Whitchurch.

On July 16, 1289, the escheator was ordered to deliver to Fulk,
brother and heir of John, the lands of his late brother ; 1 Fulk
obtained a writ of Certiorari to the escheator of Salop on com-
plaining of the seizure of the manor of Sutton Madock into the
King's hands; an inquest was held on September 25, 1276, and
the jurors found that Robert, before he took his journey to the
Holy Land, had enfeoffed his son Fulk in that manor, and that
the latter had had peaceful seisin ever since, until it was taken by
the King, and that the worth of the manor was -12 75. g^d. z On
this the Sheriff was directed on October 2 to cause Fulk to have
again seisin of the manor of Sutton Madock, together with every-
thing received thence since it was taken into the King's hands. 3
Another mandate was sent on the same day to the same Sheriff
to cause Eleanor, late the wife of Robert le Strange, to have
again seisin of the manor of Whitchurch, as the King learns by
inquisition of the Sheriff that Robert held it as the inheritance
of Eleanor. 4

The only sons of Robert le Strange and Eleanor of Whitchurch
mentioned by Eyton are John and Fulk, but the Rolls show that
there was a third son, Robert, who like his brothers had been
enfeoffed during his father's lifetime. On the father's death
the Justice of Chester was directed to take his lands into
the King's hands, 5 owing to the minority of his heir. Robert
protested, as his brothers had done ; an inquisition was
consequently held on November 24, I276, 6 at which the jury
found that Robert held no land in chief on the day of his death,
but some time before held the manor of Merburi of Henry de
Erdington for one knight's fee by service of a rose on St. John
the Baptist's day, but in his lifetime had enfeoffed his son Robert
thereof by charter ; that the latter was in peaceful seisin thereof
until it was taken by the King, and that it was worth &
per annum : further, that John, son of Robert deceased, was his

1 C.F.R., i. 263. * Chanc. Inq. p.m., Edw. I, File 12 (4).

3 C. Cl. R., 1272-1279, p. 311. * Ibid.

5 C.F.R., 1272-1307, i. 73. * Inq. Edw. I, File 12 (5).

JOHN LE STRANGE (IV) 175

heir, but they did not know his age, because he did not dwell
within the county of Chester. I have come across no other men-
tion of this Robert, but an entry in the Fine Rolls of January 19,
1278, shows that on that date the manor of Merbury was com-
mitted to Eleanor, late the wife of Robert le Strange, tenant-in-
chief, to hold at the King's will, so that she answer for it yearly
at the Exchequer of Chester : 1 possibly this grant was made in con-
sequence of the death of Robert junior, and will account for his
name not occurring again. A Robert le Strange, however, who may
perhaps be this same individual, was among those who in 1313
obtained a pardon as an adherent of the Earl of Lancaster. 2

An inquest of February 8, 1278, was held in the Hampshire
manor of Chawton, which Robert senior had acquired from his
brother Hamon ; the King's steward was directed to inquire
who had intruded therein, to the prejudice of the King and the
disinheriting of the said Robert's heir, who was within age, and
in the King's wardship ; the jury found that Robert had en-
feoffed Hugh de Cheney of 194^ acres of land, and loos, rent in
Katerinton, saving to him and his heirs homage, suits of court, and
all escheats from the said loos, rent, but that after Robert's death
Hugh had appropriated to himself the said suits and escheats,
to the value of 2os. yearly, and had also intruded on a hill pasture
and an underwood called Lythes, the herbage of which was
worth 5s. yearly. 3

Professor Tout has .called my attention to the omission from
all le Strange pedigrees of Margaret, daughter of John le Strange,
who is mentioned in the Welsh Rolls ; she married Rhys, ap Gruf-
fydd, ap Ednyved Vychan, and received from her husband a
grant of the lordship of Trevgarnedd in Anglesey. On April 20,
1284, the King allows her this lordship for life, though not regard-
ing the grant as stable or firm. 4 Ednyved Vychan, her husband's
grandfather, was Llewelyn ap lorwerth's right-hand man and
steward. Rhys himself was alive on May 4, 1284, when the Earl
of Lincoln was ordered to deliver his inheritance so far as it was
in Llewelyn's cantred of Rhos. 5 Rhys had then just done homage

1 C.F.R., 1272-1307, i. 90. * Parl. Writs, Sir F. Palgrave, ii. Div. 3, 1471.

3 C. Edw. I, File 20 (20). * Cal. Welsh Rolls, p. 285. Ibid. p. 293.

176 LE STRANGE RECORDS

for his lands, and entered on his inheritance. Rhys ap Gruffydd
and Margaret le Strange had a son, known as Gruffydd Llwyd,
wrongly celebrated as a Bardic hero, who in reality was Ed-
ward II's right-hand man in North Wales, and defeated Mortimer
of Chirk in 1311-2. This Margaret is not mentioned by Eyton,
or in any printed record that I have seen, but it looks as
if she must have been a daughter of John le Strange (IV) of
Knockin, and I venture to include her as such, provisionally, in
the pedigree.

Mention occurs of the following le Stranges during the period
covered by this chapter.

LE STRANGE OF EAST WALTON.

The collection of Sir Henry Dering, Bart., of Surrenden-Dering,
in Kent, contains ten charters of early date, which prove that
a branch of the le Stranges held land for several generations,
approximately from 1228 to 1348, in the parish of East Walton,
near Westacre, Norfolk ; a well-indexed transcript of ten of these
charters exists in the Muniment Room at Hunstanton. 1 Blome-
field mentions 2 that the family gave their name to a manor there,
which he says was called Strange's, from William le Strange, who
held it in the reign of Henry III, by the fourth part of a knight's
fee, of the heirs of Ralph de Beaufoe, the Domesday tenant ; he
also says that in the 20 th of Edward III Robert le Strange held
it of Hubert de Rye, and that the manor passed during the
same reign to Sir John Howard, and was subsequently known
as Howard's and Strange's manor.

Of the Dering charters the six first are undated ; of these the
first is a grant from Saxi de Fonte of Walton to Roger le Strange,
son of Benedict, of a perch and a half of land abutting on Bene-
dict's land in Walton. I am unable to identify any of the wit-
nesses ; they appear to be local neighbours.

The second deed is an exchange of three acres in Walton field

1 I p. 17. | * ix - H6.

JOHN LE STRANGE (IV) 177

between William, prior of Westacre, and the canons, and Ida,
wife of Benedict le Strange : the first witness is Ralph le Strange.
Blomefield 1 says that William was prior of Westacre in 12 Henry
III, which would give 1228 as the approximate date of the charter.

No. 3 is a sale of a small piece of land in East Walton field ;
among the witnesses are 'Witto Exstraneo de Est Walton,' and
Alexander de Butterwyk ; the latter name occurs in a Fine of
22 Edward I (1294), quoted by Blomefield, 2 but at that period
deeds were usually dated, so I incline to think that the Alexander
who tested the Bering charter was not the same individual as the
witness to the Fine.

No. 4 is a grant from Peter Chiping to William le Strange,
both of East Walton, of $%d. annual rent and certain homages
and services therein ; the first attestation is by Alexander de
Butterwick, so this deed must be of about the same date as the
last.

No. 5 is a sale of a messuage and croft by Nicholas Schreue to
Roger, son of Roger le Strange of East Walton, for 20 marks. The
two first witnesses are John Howard and William le Strange ;
the first of these was probably Sir John Howard of Wiggenhall,
ancestor of the Dukes of Norfolk, who died in 1331.

By the 6th charter, Thomas, Richard, and Sabina de Ratles-
dene quitclaim certain lands in East Walton, sold by them to
William le Strange of that place. Here again the first witness is
Alexander de Butterwyk; he is followed by John and Richard
Boys, or de Bosco, whose niece married Sir John Howard, jun.,
who was Sheriff of Norfolk in 1345.

The next charter, No. 7, is the first that has a date, viz. October
20, 1316. It is a grant by Roger le Strange, perpetual vicar of the
church of East Walton, of a messuage and croft there to Richard
Waryn of Grimston and Isabella his wife. The first witness is
Roger, son of William le Strange of East Walton.

No. 8, dated January 6, 1318, is a grant by Henry fitz Ralph
to Roger de Priketone of a rood of land in East Walton, the first
witness being Roger le Strange.

1 ix. 160. * v. 239.

178 LE STRANGE RECORDS

By No. 9, dated June 29, 1348, Margaret, widow of Roger
Zoel, or Yol, of Aylesswethesthorp, 1 quitclaims to Thomas,
son of Roger le Strange of East Walton, two acres of land
therein.

The tenth and last of these Dering charters is dated January
29, 1349, an d is a grant by Hugo Edward of Thorp, chaplain, to
Mirielle, widow of Roger Sad of East Walton, and his daughter
Helewisa, of a messuage and certain lands thereat, some of which
abut on land of Roger Straunge. The grant is witnessed by Roger
le Strange and William le Strange.

Two charters in the British Museum supply a little more evi-
dence about these East Walton le Stranges. One is an undated
charter of Andrew Conteshale, of East Walton, granting a piece of
arable land to Roger, son of Roger le Strange and Martin his
nephew, of the same place. The two first witnesses to this grant
are Alexander de Butterwyk and William le Strange. 2 This does
not clear up the relationship between Roger the son of Roger and
William.

The second deed is a grant from Thomas Gadergod of East
Walton, dated on May 5, 1312, to Matilda, late the wife of William
le Strange of that place, and Roger his son of certain herbage
and pasture there. 3 This lady occurs again in a Fine of July i,
1327, between Roger Petigard, jun., and Matilda, late the wife
of William le Strange, and Roger le Strange and William his son,
concerning certain lands and tenements in Bilney, Westacre,
and Gaytonthorpe, which Roger le Strange granted to Roger
Petigard. 4

On June 2, 1353, William le Strange gave by Fine 30 marks
of silver to John, son of Thomas de Apelton and Cristiana his wife
for some 20 acres of land in East Walton and Westacre. 5

The ' Feudal Aids ' for 1302 record that William le Strange and
his tenants hold the fourth part of a knight's fee in East Walton of

1 This is not Ashwellthorpe, near Wymondham, but appears to be an old name
of Gaytonthorpe, the next parish to the north of East Walton.
B.M. Harl. Chart. 48, G. 45. 8 Ibid., 50, F, 26.

4 P.R.O. Feet of Fines, 2 Edw. Ill, Case 164, File 144, No. 31.
6 Ibid., 27 Edw. Ill, Case 166, File 161, No. 875.

JOHN LE STRANGE (IV) 179

the heirs of Beaumund ; 1 and also that in 1346 Roger le Straunge
holds the fourth part of a knight's fee in East Walton of Hugh
de Ry, of which the Prior of Westacre holds a third part, which
fee William le Straunge formerly held. 2

The 'Feudal Aids' of the same year, 1346, contain several
entries concerning Roger le Straunge and Joan his wife ; but
whether this Roger is identical with Roger of East Walton I
am not sure, though it seems probable. The entries are as
follows :

A.D. 1346. Hundr. de Deppewade. Dominus Rogerus le Straunge et Johanna
uxor ejus tenent in Fundenhale unum feodum mib'tis de heredibus comitis Mares
calli, et iidem de Rege, quod Johannes de Thorp quondam tenuit . . . xl.s.

Idem Rogerus et Johanna uxor ejus tenent in Assewell Thorp unum feodum
militis de Roberto de Benhale et Eva uxore ejus, et iidem de Rege quod Johannes
de Thorp quondam tenuit . . . xl.s. 3

A.D. 1346. Hundr. de Gildecrosse. Rogerus le Straunge et Johanna uxor
ejus tenent in Wreningham unum feodum militis de Johanne Bardolf, et idem de
Rege, quod Johannes de Thorp quondam tenuit . . . xl.s. 4

The above-named Joan was daughter and heiress of Roger
atte Eshe. She married, firstly, John de Thorp of Ashwell-
thorpe, who died in 1340, [and secondly, in 1345, Roger le
Strange who, Blomefield says, was lord of Ashwellthorpe in her
right. 5

The Patent Rolls of September 8, 1367, contain letters nomi-
nating attorneys in England for one year for John le Strange of
East Walton, who is going on a pilgrimage beyond seas by the
King's licence. 6 In the Close Rolls of August 28, 1376, is entered
a charter of John le Strange, lord of Walton, granting to Roger le
Strange, Philip, Vicar of Wellesborne, and William de Offechirche,
all the lands which he, the said John le Strange, had in Alcrynton,
Balscote, and Wroxton, co. Oxford ; Shenyndon, co. Gloucester ;
Tysho, Pylardynton, and Lockeleye, co. Warwick ; Totebache,
Bradele, Evesham, and Goldecote, co. Worcester. 7

1 Feudal Aids, 1284-1431, iii. 408. * Ibid. p. 523.

3 Ibid. p. 528. ' Ibid. p. 532.

Blomefield, v. 145. C.P.R. Edw. Ill, xiv. 5.

1 C. Cl. R., Edw. Ill, xiv. 455 and 461.

N 2

i8o LE STRANGE RECORDS

The pedigree deducible from these documents is as follows :

BENEDICT LE STRANGE, = IDA * * *, occ. c. 1228.
of East Walton.

Roger le Strange, =* * *

*
Martin le

of East Walton.

= Matilda * * *
occ. as
widow, 1312
and 1327.

" * Roger le Strange,
occ. before
1331.

Strange.

William le Strange, =
of East Walton,
occ. 1302 ; died
before May 5, 1 3 1 2 .

Roger le Strange = (?)/oan, d. and h.

of East Wal-
ton, occ. 1316,
1327-

of Roger atte
Eshe, occ.
1346.

Thomas le Strange,
occ. 1348.

William le Strange,
occ. 1327, 1353.

John le Strange,
of E. Walton
in 1376.

The accounts of the chamberlain of the Corporation of Lynn
for 20-21 Edward III (1346-7) contain the following entries, 1
which may refer to some of the above members of the East Walton
branch of the family :

Itm r? de xx 8 . dat Jofei Straunge. Exp". forinsecoram.
Itm r9 de iiij". x<*. in expens'. Wai? del Hay t Joni Straunge.
Itm r? de vj s . viij*. solut Wifto Straunge 5 labor' suo.
Itm r9 de xiij. iiij. da? Witto Straunge pro feodo suo.

EMMA LE STRANGE.

Emma le Strange is known to me only from the following
entry in the Testa de Nevill* which may refer to any time during
the reigns of Henry III and Edward I :

Feoda que tenentur in capite de domino rege in comitatu Essex et Herts.
Emma Extranea tenet in Sturemere feodum dimidii militis.

1 Lynn, Chamberlain's Accounts, E, a 12, 20-21 Edw. III.

P. 266.

JOHN LE STRANGE (IV) 181

HUGH LE STRANGE.

A Hugh le Strange has been mentioned * as occurring in the
neighbourhood of Knockin in the early part of the thirteenth
century. Eyton shows 2 that a Hugh, whose relationship to
John le Strange he cannot certify, held land at Berrington, a few
miles to the south-east of Shrewsbury, and he thinks that there
may have been two persons of the name of Hugh, who were
tenants there under the elder house of le Strange ; one of them
had a brother named John. In or about the year 1240 Hugh
was dead, and his inheritance was divided among females ; this
is shown by two entries in the Testa de Nevill* which record that
Roger Sprinchose and the heirs of Hugh le Strange hold a knight's
fee in Binton or Biriton i.e. Berrington. Eyton has little to
say about the co-parceners of Berrington, except one of them,
who was a William fitz Alan.

LE STRANGE OF OSWESTRY.

Eyton, quoting from the Haughmond Chartulary, 4 says that
John le Strange, a burgess and Provost of Oswestry, witnessed
a charter on April 2, 1258, in a full court of Oswestry Hundred.
About the same date he also attested a grant of land in Aston
to Haughmond Abbey. 5 Eyton also mentions that, within a
few years of 1292, Richard le Strange was one of the co-tenants,
along with the abbot of Haughmond, of Aston, which lies between
Oswestry and Knockin. 6 Richard must have died soon after
this date, as a memorandum in the Leiger-book of Shrewsbury
Abbey, concerning the tithes of certain lands belonging to the
parish church of Oswalster, mentions the crofts of the late Richard
Straunge. 7 An inquest, taken at Oswestry after the death of
Richard, Earl of Arundel, on May 18, 1302, names Juliana, William,
and John le Strange among the burgesses of that town. 8

1 Supra, p. 35- * vi. 35, 36.

8 Pp. 48 and 50. * xi. 9.

8 Haughmond Chartulary, fo. 8-22. * Eyton, xi. 13.

7 Ibid. x. 342. >s Ibid. x. 334.

182 LE STRANGE RECORDS

JOHN, SON OF RALPH LE STRANGE.

A John, son of Ralph le Strange, appears in the county of
Hertford in the year 1272, as is shown by the following extract
from the Fine Rolls of Henry III :

Hertf . Johannes filius Radulphi le Estraunge dat dimidiam marcam pro uno
brevi ad terminam habendo. Et mandatum est Vicecomiti Hert-
fordie. Teste Rege apud Westmonasterium, xxx die Julii anno regni
Ivi . 1

It seems scarcely probable that this John is identical with
John, son of Ralph le Strange of Litcham, who occurs in 1259
and 1293. 2

STEPHEN LE STRANGE.

The Hundred Rolls mention a Stephen le Strange in the in-
quisitions taken in the 4th of Edward I (1275-6) :

Ebor'. Wappentake de Rydal. De Sectis. Stephanus le Straunge subtraxit
sectam et unum diem per idem tempus de una bovata in Amubdeby
[Amotherby, near Malton]. 8

WILLIAM LE STRANGE OF DEVON.

A fee belonging to William le Strange in Devonshire is noted
in the Testa de Nevill as paying two marks towards the Aid given
to the King in that county in the 2ist of Edward I (1292-3). 4 This
William appears again at the Devonshire inquisition, held on
September I, 1289, for proof of age of Alan, son and heir of Roger
la Zouche ; William Extraneus, knight, agrees as to the proof of
age, for Alan's father made him a knight sixteen years ago last
Christmas, when Alan, then six years old, carried the sword
before him. 5

A William le Strange is mentioned in the Patent Rolls of July

1 Excerpta e Rot. Fin. Hen. Ill, curd Car. Roberts, ii. 574.

2 Supra, p. 53. * Rot. Hundr. temp. Hen. Ill et Edw. I, i.
4 Testa de Nevill, p. 188. Inq. Edw. I, File 55 (5).

JOHN LE STRANGE (IV) 183

18, 1282, in a complaint from Walter de Kancia, that Richard de
Ernesley, knight, and many others, entered his house at Newton
Harcourt, co. Leicester, by night, carried away his goods, and
assaulted his men. 1 It may have been this William who came
to an untimely end in 1298, as appears by a pardon, granted to
Robert Poygne on September 16, by reason of his services in
Scotland, for the death of William Lestrange. 2

1 C.P.R., 1281-1292, p. 47. Ibid. p. 361.

c/ oo"

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*
*
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Jj T3 c3 ci

CHAPTER VI

JOHN LE STRANGE (v)
1275-1309

THE Shropshire and Norfolk inquisitions show that John le
Strange (V) was twenty-two years of age when his father was acci-
dentally drowned in the Severn in the autumn of 1275, though it
was not until May of the following year that he obtained seisin
of his father's lands, and did homage for them to the King. Of
his three uncles, Hamon, the crusader, had died two years before
in the Holy Land ; Robert, also a crusader, had returned home,
but died a few months later, in 1276, leaving three sons, John,
Fulk, and Robert, the second of whom was eventually the first
baron of the house of Blackmere. The only uncle left alive was
Roger le Strange of Ellesmere, who, as we shall see, took a pro-
minent part in the Welsh wars of Edward I, and ultimately
added to the family honours a third summons to Parliament as
a baron.

Like his father and his grandfather, John (V) was a bene-
factor to the Shropshire Abbey Of Haughmond. One of his earliest
acts, after coming into possession of his lands, being to grant to
that abbey rents in Kinton to the value of ^od. 1 He was twice
married ; of his first wife, who apparently had no children, nothing
but the Christian name, Alianora, has come down to us ; this is
mentioned in a curious exchange, entered on the Plea Rolls at
Trinity, 1276,2 between John le Strange and his wife Alianora,

1 Harl. MSS. 2022. * Abbrev. Placit. Ric. I-Edw. II, p. 1906.

185

186 LE STRANGE RECORDS

of the one part, and John's mother, Joan de Somery, of the other,
which is thus summarised by Eyton :

Joan de Somery settles the manor and advowson of Midelton (Cambridge-
shire) on John and Alianora, and the heirs of John by Alianora, but, in default
of such heirs, with remainder to Joan. In return, John le Strange gives to Joan
the value of half Midelton, to be taken out of his manor of Hunstanston, and 100
solidates of land and rents elsewhere, to hold to Joan for her life. If Hunstanston
proved non-equivalent to half Midelton, the overplus, if any, was to remain
with John le Strange, or the deficiency, if any, was to be made good to Joan
out of Le Strange's nearest estates. On Joan's death, and also on Alianora's
death, without issue, Hunstanston was to revert to Le Strange. The advowson
and capital Messuages of either manor were to pass in exchange, as if equal,
and were not to be extended. 1

An inquest, taken at Cambridge in the 7th of Edward I
(1278-9), shows that John le Strange held two knights' fees at
Middleton in that county of Simon de Insula, at a rent of a pair
of gilt spurs worth 6d., and payment of scut age to Simon ; also
a fishery worth 2os. per annum, view of frank-pledge, and assize
of bread and beer, with rights oi warren in his lands.

John's second wife was Maud, daughter and heiress of Roger
d'Eiville, of Walton d'Eiville, Warwickshire, in right of whom he
held that manor, which afterwards passed to their heir. Maud,
as we shall see, survived her husband.

An early Roll of tenants in capite, and sub-tenants in Shrop-
shire, temp. Edw. I, from the collection of Edward Lloyd, 2 gives
the following information as to the possessions of John le Strange.
He held the manor of Wrockwardine with its members viz.
Admaston, Aldescote, Leyton, Barcote, Ness, Clotley, and Walcote
of the King at an annual rent of 8 ; of these members Hugh
Burnell held some rents in Admaston, the abbot of Haughmond
held Walcote in free alms, and Ralph de Clotley held that vill
of the said John, who held the rest of the manor, and had his
court there, with pleas of bloodshed, hue and cry, and gallows,
which he used. The manor of Ness was also held by him in chief,
by the service of one knight for fifteen days in time of war. The

1 Eyton, x. 278 ; Rot. Claus. 2 Edw. I, m. 10.
* Coll. Top. and Gen. i. 115-120.

JOHN LE STRANGE (V) 187

manor of Middle he held of John Fitz Alan, by the service of the
fourth part of a knight at Oswestry in time of war.

Young John le Strange succeeded to his border inheritance
at a troublous time. The treaty of 1267 with Llewelyn was a
truce rather than a peace, and the Welsh'prince had availed him-
self of Edward's four years' absence from England to strengthen
himself and prolong the unrest : he refused to pay homage to the
King on his return, and his evasions and aggressions provoked
the latter to declare war against the Welsh in November, 1276.
A clear view of the campaigns, which ended in the subjugation
of the principality to the English Crown, will be found in Mr.
John E. Morris's ' Welsh Wars of Edward I,' which is based on
original documents, and has special reference to mediaeval military
history. 1 For many months preparations were made on a very
large scale ; Edward had already had experience of the difficulties
of attacking a mountainous country like Wales, and knew that
the invasion of Snowdonia was no light task. His feudal forces
were summoned to Worcester on July I, 1277, as Llewelyn had
been most aggressive on the middle March of Powys, Radnor,
and Salop. This was precisely the country where the le Stranges
possessed most influence, and among those who were summoned
to Worcester were John, the young lord of Knockin, and his
uncle, Roger of Ellesmere. The latter, on November 16, 1276,
had letters of protection until Michaelmas, for going on the King's
special affairs to the March. 2 Both of them had been ordered
to prohibit their vassals from furnishing provisions or supplies
to the Welsh rebels ; 3 and the Patent Rolls show that on May 27,
1277, John had letters of protection for going to Wales on the
King's service. 4 The two le Stranges served under Roger de
Mortimer in the army of the middle March, which drove Llewelyn
out of Shropshire and reoccupied Powysland. Mr. John Morris
makes an interesting point in saying that, with Edward's Welsh
wars, the age of the foot-archer is dawning, and that the battles

1 Oxford, 1901.

* C.P.R., 1272-1281, p. 171 ; Close Rolls, s^Edw. I, memb. 12, d.
Part. Writ, tested at Cirencester, Dec. 28, 195, No. 3.

* C.P.R., 1272-1281, p. 210.

i88 LE STRANGE RECORDS

of Evesham and Lewes were the last in which the heavily mailed
horseman was quite supreme. In the war of 1277 the infantry
from the border counties was composed of both sagittarii and
lanceati, the latter being footmen armed with spears. The bow
shown in the Bayeux tapestry, and in use up to the time of
Henry III, was the weak short -bow, pulled only to the chest ;
it was the long-bow, pulled to the ear, which, adopted and
improved by Edward I and his grandson, eventually made the
English infantry a real power in Europe.

Shortly after the date of the muster at Worcester, Bogo de
Knovill, Sheriff of Shropshire, left Oswestry to join the King, and
Roger le Strange was brought from Derbyshire, where for some
years he had been constable of the Castle of the Peak, and was
placed in Bogo's stead as constable of Oswestry Castle on July 17,
1277 ; the castle of Dinas Bran, on the middle Dee, opposite
Llangollen, was also committed to him at a salary of 100, so that
he could be within easy touch of headquarters at Chester, which
was King Edward's base during the early stages of the war. 1
On the same day authority was given to Roger le Strange to
receive into the King's peace, until August 15, all Welsh willing
to come in, after first receiving security for their good behaviour. 2
Roger de Mortimer was informed of these dispositions, and that
Roger le Strange and his nephew had been ordered ' to be inten-
dant ' to him when necessary. 8

It was about this time that Roger's brother-in-law, Griffith
ap Gwenwynwyn, quarrelled with Llewelyn, and transferred his
homage to the Crown ; he was restored as Prince of Upper Powys,
not however with full and independent power, but as a vassal of
England, under the control of le Strange as representative of the
King. 4 Meanwhile, during the summer of 1277, Edward having
closed in Llewelyn's country on the south and east, marched
slowly round it to the north, to a ' camp near Basingwork/ where
he stayed a month and began building at once a new castle, called
Le Flint (i.e. La Roche), by August 23. He thence moved to

1 C.P.R., 1272-1281, p. 223; Pipe Roll, 12 Edw. I, under 'Wardrobe'; Part.
Writs, 1277.

z C.P.R., 1272-1281, p. 219. 3 C. Cl. R., 1272-1279, p. 398. * Supra, p. in.

JOHN LE STRANGE (V) 189

Rhuddlan, where he also began building a new castle, and finally
to Con way, where he was in touch with his fleet, by the help of
which he was able to seize the island of Anglesey, the granary of
Wales ; Llewelyn was thus brought to bay in his mountain strong-
hold, and, cut off from help on every side, was obliged to surrender
on November 6, and to abandon all his territories except the district
of Snowdon and the isle of Anglesey. The conditions were fixed
and homage done at Rhuddlan. Among the terms of peace was
the transference of the homage of the Welsh barons (including
Griffith of Upper Powys), from Llewelyn to the King. Llewelyn
went to London for the Christmas Parliament, but only remained
there a fortnight, 1 and there was no more talk of further conditions
until his marriage at Worcester in the following year. The feudal
forces were dismissed, and some who had performed more than the
forty days' service due from them received special rewards to drink
the King's health (ad potandum), which are solemnly entered in
the Pipe Rolls and other Exchequer accounts ; for instance, a
batch of 250 archers from the lands of John le Strange and Lewis
de la Pole received 385. 4^., which works out at nearly 2d. each,
or a day's pay. 2

On January 4, 1278, Roger le Strange was associated with
Guncelin de Badlesmere, Justice of Chester, and three others, to
receive an oath from Llewelyn's men, to take hostages from him, to
release prisoners, and to see what lands were to be assigned by
Llewelyn as dowry to Eleanor de Montfort, his affianced bride ; 3
Eleanor, when on her way to marry him in 1275, had been captured
at sea by one of the King's ships, and Edward had refused to
allow her to be ransomed ; she remained under restraint at Queen
Eleanor's Court until after the peace. In 1278 she accompanied
the King and Queen to Worcester, where the marriage took place
on October 13. For five years there was peace on the Welsh
border, and the interval was employed by Edward in completing
the erection of the strong castles begun in 1277 ; the north was
secured by new fortresses at Flint, Rhuddlan, Conway, and Car-

* Diet. Nat. Biog., art. on ' Llewelyn,' by Professor Tout, xxxiv. 13.

* Morris's Welsh Wars, 139.

* Rot. Wall. 6 Edvv. I, m. n ; Col. Chan. Rolls, various, p. 162.

LE STRANGE RECORDS

narvon ; the west by Harlech, Bere, and Criccieth ; while in the
middle March the chief interest attaches to Builth, which occupied
a central position of great importance ; on the east it had easy
access to Mortimer's Shropshire fief ; on the south its posses-
sion closed any advance from Brecon or Hereford ; on the west it
commanded the road to Llandovery and the castles of South
Wales ; while on the north it gave access up the valley of the
Wye to the strongholds of the Snowdon country, and was an
important post for checking raids from that direction. Twenty
years previously Builth had been wrested from Mortimer by
Llewelyn, who entirely destroyed the old castle and abandoned
the site. Edward recognised its importance, and in 1277 began
the construction of a new castle which took five years to build.
The Exchequer accounts 1 show that there was a great central
tower with six smaller towers in the curtain, and that the entrance
was guarded by two more large towers ; there was also a hall,
chapel, and stables ; its value is attested by the fact that it was
never captured, though surrounded by the forces of Llewelyn when
he invaded the valley of the upper Wye in his last campaign. Yet
of all these buildings scarcely a stone remains in situ, though
the lofty earthworks and deep fosses indicate the plan, and bear
witness to the former strength of this advanced outpost among
the Welsh hills.

The services of John le Strange in the first Welsh war were
recognised by a grant from the King, dated January 10, 1278,
remitting 200, wherein he was bound at the Exchequer for the
debts of John his father and his ancestors, 2 ' as the King has
pardoned him this sum for his grateful service.' On February 5
the King wrote a warm letter of thanks to him for the spontaneous
services which he had rendered over and above those due from
him by his feudal tenure, ' non ratione alicuius servicii nobis ad
prsesens debiti, sed sponte et graciose.' 3 The discharge of those
services involved le Strange in considerable expenses, which the
income of his lands was not sufficient to meet, and the Close Rolls
show that he was obliged to have recourse to borrowing. On

1 See Morris's Welsh Wars, pp. 147-148. * C.P.R., 1272-1281, p. 252.

3 Morris's Welsh Wars, p. 121, from Parl. Writs, i. 196.

JOHN LE STRANGE (V) 191

June 25, 1280, he acknowledged that he owed 12 to John de
Ubbeston, to be levied in default on his lands in Norfolk and Salop ;
and another entry on the same day shows that he had borrowed
23 from Acius Jacobin of Florence and Pelegrin de Kyatrino of
Lucca, secured on his lands in Cambridgeshire. 1 On October 6
following he acknowledged a debt of 35 marks to Richard della
Rohere, to be levied in default on his lands, &c., in co. Salop ; z
and also 16 marks to Philip de Belvaco, secured on his lands
in Herefordshire and Salop ; 3 again, an entry of December 15,

1281, records a debt of 27 marks to Nutus de Florencia, merchant,
to be levied in default on lands in Salop. 4 Altogether in eighteen
months he had raised 87, equivalent to over 3000 at the
present day.

John's mother, Joan de Somery, was still alive at this period,
and apparently had the Norfolk property in dower ; a commission
of oyer and terminer was issued on January 15, 1281, touching the
persons who cut off and carried away part of a whale which had
been cast ashore at Thornham and Titchwell, as the wreck of
Isabella de Albini, Countess of Arundel. This was Isabel de
Warenne, wife of Hugh de Albini, last Earl of Arundel of his line,
and brother of Joan's mother, Nicola de Albini. At the same
time a commission was issued to extend the manor of Hunstanton,
held by Joan de Somery. 5 A grant was made to Joan on April 10,

1282, of the goods of James Elfrych of Hunstanton, forfeited to the
King by reason of a felony for which he had abjured the realm. 6

We now come to the second Welsh war of 1282-3, which
resulted in the death of Llewelyn, and the subjugation of the
principality to the English Crown. In this campaign Roger le
Strange took no inconsiderable part. For five years Welsh
grievances had smouldered, gradually becoming more acute,
owing chiefly to the rough conduct of the English officials, and
resentment at their interference with native laws and customs.
Llewelyn and his brother David became reconciled, and attempted
to recover their independence. On March 22, 1282, they swooped

1 C. Cl. R., 1279-1288, pp. 58-59. * Ibid. p. 66.

8 Ibid. p. 67. ' Ibid. p. 176.

5 C.P.R., 1272-1281, p. 468. 6 Ibid. 1281-1292, p. 14.

192 LE STRANGE RECORDS

down on Hawarden, which it was easy for David, as being lord
of the Upper Clwyd, to attack unexpectedly ; they captured
Roger de Clifford, who was Keeper of Hawarden and Mold, as
the then lord, Roger of Mold, was a minor, and devastated the
country up to the walls of Chester. Llewelyn remaining in the
north, David rushed off to raise the south Welsh, and succeeded
so well that he captured Llandovery and destroyed the new castle
at Llanbadarn ; the rising was general in Brecon and Radnor,
and the King was obliged to call for reinforcements from Ireland
and Scotland, and even from Gascony, to quell the revolt.

The castle of Builth, which had been four years in construction
at a cost of 1600, under Howel ap Meyrick, was completed just
before his death in 1281 ; the custody of it was committed in
November to Roger le Strange, 1 no doubt because of his intimate
acquaintance with that part of the country. He had up to that
time been in charge of Dinas Bran, the chief castle in Bromfield,
which with Yale was the nucleus of the possessions of the Welsh
lords of Lower Powys. Griffith ap Madog, who died in 1269, had
left several sons, but Edward I kept the lordships in his own hands
and had made Roger le Strange keeper of Bromfield and Yale,
doubtless as a measure of precaution. In 1282 Earl Warenne
was granted Bromfield and Yale, 2 so Roger le Strange was no
longer wanted there, and was transferred to Builth. Warenne
built the Dinas Bran, the ruins of which still survive. The de-
scendants of Griffith ap Madog were relegated to small estates,
and one of their direct line was Owen Glendwr, whose connection
with the le Stranges will be shown later.

On the outbreak of hostilities both Roger and his nephew John
were ordered, on March 24, 1282, to place themselves and their
forces under the command of Roger de Mortimer, and not to have
intercourse with the Welsh rebels, or to let them have arms or
provisions. 3 On May 24 they were summoned to serve with the
army at Rhuddlan ; 4 and Roger le Strange was again summoned
to perform military service there in person, 5 but it is not probable

1 Rot. Orig., 10 Edw. I, i. 396. * Cal. Welsh Rolls, p. 240.

3 Parl. Writs, vol. i. 222, No. i. * Rot. Wall. 10 Edw. I, m. 4, dorso.

6 Parl. Writs, i. 247, No. 9.

JOHN LE STRANGE (V)

193

that he left the middle March for the north. The Bedfordshire
Writs of that year mention that he was tenant by the courtesy of
England of the third part of the barony of Beauchamp, but in
pursuance of the summons performed his service in Ellesmere
by the King's command in the comitiva of Roger de Mortimer. 1
During the summer of 1282 he was holding Builth Castle with a
small garrison, surrounded by a sea of revolt : for a long time
he seems to have been isolated, keeping his garrison going by
the revenues of the land belonging to it, which brought in 100
per annum to the Crown. 2 On October 26 Roger de Mortimer
died, and Roger le Strange, who had been doing his work for some
time, succeeded to his place. On October 30 le Strange was ap-
pointed to the custody of the King's castles of Oswestry, Whit-
church, and Montgomery, and the knights of those garrisons were
ordered to be intendant to him ; 3 he had already been directed,
on October 14, to surrender the keepership of Builth Castle to
John Giffard of Brimsfield, lord of Llandovery. 4

On November 6, 1282, the royal army suffered a bad temporary
check by the defeat of Tany on the Menai Straits, which obliged
Edward to remain for a while on the defensive. Edward, however,
recovered himself so well within a month or so that Llewelyn
left Snowdon in despair of further resistance, and tried as a forlorn
hope the effect of appearing among the numerous Welsh tenants
of Griffith ap Gwenwynwyn, and of the Mortimers, Bohuns,
Giffards, and other mid- Welsh Marcher lords. The defence of
the March devolved upon Roger le Strange. Roger at once took
active measures for carrying out the preparations for the advance
against the Welsh in central Wales ; he ordered the cutting down
of trees in the passes ; 5 he had John Giffard with him, and young
Edmund Mortimer was certainly acting under his orders, but
there is some doubt as to who was in actual command at the battle
near Builth. Mr. Morris, in his ' Welsh Wars/ commits himself
to the statement that ' not a single authority represents 1' Estrange
as present in person.' In this particular instance Mr. Morris

1 Parl. Writs, i. 247, No. 9.
1 Cal. Welsh Rolls, p. 244.
8 Welsh Rolls, June 28, 1283.

* Rot. Orig., 10 Edw. I, i. p. 516.
4 Ibid. p. 240.

194 LE STRANGE RECORDS

has certainly failed to examine his original authorities ; so far
from not mentioning Roger as being present, several of them
specifically record his presence, and one l even says that he
personally cut off Llewelyn's head :

Quod cum audisset Rogeras le Estraunge, pro tanto opprobrio indignatus, et
non modicum iratus, illico evaginato gladio quo accinctus erat, irruit in eum, et,
ejusdem capite amputate, corpus truncum reliquit.

Trokelowe is perhaps not very convincing, as he makes the
affair happen at Montgomery, but another chronicler says : 2

E puis vint Sire Leulin e descendi de Snoudone, e vint a Mount Gumeri e la
vint Sir Roger le Estraunge e autre marchiz e gent de la pais e pristerent Sire
Leulin, e le occirent, e sa teste fu en veye a la Tour de Loundres.

At least two other chroniclers mention Roger as taking a
personal part in Llewelyn's capture and death, and the fact that
it was Roger himself, as we shall see, who sent the despatch
announcing the affair to King Edward, is in itself strongly pre-
sumptive of his having been in command on the day.

The subjoined letter from Roger to the King 3 refers mainly
to the earlier stages of Llewelyn's southern raid. The enemy
has crossed the Berwyns the long range of moorland shutting in
the southern valley of the Dee between Corwen and Llangollen.
Earl Warenne, holding Bromfield on the flank of the Berwyns,
is not to allow them to get provisions. The lands of ' Sire Griffin *
were doubtless those of Gruffydd of Pool, and this shows that the
Welsh had crossed the mountains into the upper Severn Valley.
The Mortimers, and the bailiffs of Brecon and Builth, are warned,
a fact which shows that Roger correctly guessed the direction
Llewelyn would take, and enhances his share in the credit of the
victory at Orewin bridge :

A son tre noble seigneur Edward par la grace deu Roy de Engleterre Seigneur
de Yrlaund et Due de Guyenne Roger le Estraunge si ly plest Saluz Honurs et
reuerences cum a son cher Seigneur. Sachez sire ke jeo ai reuisite nos marches en
nos parties de Leu en Leu partut, et ceo ke mes alast par le conseil de vos prudes

1 De Trokelowe et Anon. Chron. (Rolls Series, 48), iii. 40.

1 Le Livere de Reis de Engleterre (Wroxham continuation, Rolls Series, 42), p. 304.

1 P.R.O. Ancient Correspondence, xix. Nos. 8 and 9.

JOHN LE STRANGE (V) 195

homes ai Jeo fet adrescer a meux ke Jeo sauez et frai de Jour en Jour sicum deus
me assensera a meux ke puisse. Endroit de ceo sire ke vus me mandastes par nostre
lettre ke Jeo cheuauchas sus vos enemys. Sachez sire ke vos enemy s en nos
parties sont outre Berwen 1 et outre Merugge 2 le quelle mountagnes sont si
morouses et debeteines ke nul Host ne pourroit saunesment passer sans mettre
vostre gent en grand peril La quele chose vus mauez defendu, ne mie por ceo ke
kaunt ke home pourra fere de damage a eus Jeo mettrei ma peine de fere le.
Sachez sire ke le greu n damage ke home le pourra fere de ca en auaunt ceo est de
garder ben la marche ke viueres ne viandes ne passent a eus, la quele garde Jeo ai
ordine a meux ke Jeo sauei, mes il en est mester si vus plest ke vus direz au Counte
de Garenne ke il preigne garde ben la terre ke vus li auez done ke vitaille ne passe.
Et maundez si vus plest meyme la manere a ma dame de Mortymer et a sire Emun
son fiz et au Baillif de Buelt et de Brekenen meyme. La nuit ke ceste lettre fu
fete si me vint nouele ke Lewelin esteit decenduz en la terre sire Griffin et por ceo
Jeo ale Lendroit. Deu vus doint longe vie et bone.

I trust that it will not be without interest if I go with some
detail into a description of the skirmish except in the importance
of its results it is hardly worthy of being called a battle as I
have had the advantage of personally examining the ground in
company of a most competent local antiquary, the Rev. Edmondes
Cwen, vicar of Llanelwedd, near Builth, to whom I am indebted
for many notes embodied in this narrative.

John Giffard, who was then holding Builth Castle for the King,
was connected through the family of his wife, Maud Longespee,
with Llewelyn, and had also fought together with him at Lewes
against Edward, but had afterwards deserted the barons and
joined the King's side. It is said that, after Llewelyn's success
near Bangor, he was invited by his old comrade-in-arms to
come to Builth, Giffard promising to desert the King and help
him. Llewelyn, not suspecting treachery, came down with a body-
guard of only eighteen men. He spent the night of December 10
at the little castle of Aberedw, on the Wye, a few miles below
Builth, hoping to meet Giffard in the morning. Here Giffard
and the two young Mortimers attempted to surprise him, but
he escaped and took refuge in a cave on the hill above. Next
morning he proceeded up the right bank of the Wye to Builth,
but found the castle closed against him by Giffard's men ; he

1 Coder Berwyn, on the borders of Montgomeryshire and Merionethshire.
1 ? unidentified.

o 2

196 LE STRANGE RECORDS

destroyed Builth bridge, and hastened to join the main body of his
forces, which was posted on the heights near Cilmery, overlooking
the northern or left bank of the river Yrfon, which runs into the
Wye from the westward just above Builth. 1 From these heights,
at a spot known long before the battle as Cefn-y-bedd (the ridge
of the grave), a Cwm, or dingle, runs down to the Yrfon, and im-
mediately opposite the bottom of the dingle was Orewin bridge ;
no trace of which now remains, but the name, which means above
the foam, indicates the site ; the bridge, no doubt a wooden one,
was built just above a little rapid at the foot of the dingle. The
English held the right or southern bank of the Yrfon from Builth
upwards, but were unable to cross the river as it was in flood, and
Llewelyn had seized the bridge and detached some of his men
on the south side to guard it, leaving most of his force on the steep
northern slopes above the river. Having posted his forces, and
deeming their position secured by the river in their front, the
prince, who had been up nearly all the previous night, retired to
rest in a barn near the head of the dingle. Meanwhile a Welsh-
man had pointed out to the English a ford, about a mile higher
up the Yrfon, by which they were able to cross over to the
northern side, and, by skirting the heights a little way from the
river, took the men who were guarding Orewin bridge in the rear ;
they gained possession of the bridge, and thus opened the way
for the rest of the English army to cross over. Some of the
heavy cavalry, with archers intermingled in their ranks, who had
worked round higher up the slopes behind the main body of the
Welsh, charged downhill, and threw them into confusion ; caught
unawares between two fires, and without orders from their prince,
the Welsh resistance was overcome, and they were driven in
disorder from the field. At that juncture Llewelyn, awakened
by the noise, hurried up without waiting to put on his armour,
and was run through the body and killed, before his identity
was recognised, by one Stephen de Frankton. The name of
this individual supplies additional proof of the connection of
Roger le Strange with the fight, as Stephen was undoubtedly a

1 Ann. Monast., Dunstable, iii. 293.

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JOHN LE STRANGE (V) 197

retainer of Roger's, and was under obligations to him. Frankton
is a small village close to the latter's manor of Ellesmere. The
Patent Rolls of September 10, 1275, contain a ratification, at the
instance of Roger le Strange, of a pardon granted to Stephen de
Frankton by Henry III of his abjuration of the realm and of all
trespasses. 1 Stephen appears again in 1287 as Centenar in com-
mand of a company of infantry from Ellesmere. 2

The best account of the battle, from which the above is largely
drawn, is given by a contemporary Yorkshire chronicler, Walter
de Hemingburgh, to whom Mr. James Gairdner gives the high
praise of saying that ' his accuracy of statement is only equalled
by the elegance of his style.' 8 The authorities are by no means
agreed as to details, and not even as to who struck the fatal blow,
but the balance of evidence appears to confirm the narrative as
given above.

The head of Llewelyn was cut off and sent to Edward I at
Rhuddlan, so that he might make sure that his enemy was really
dead, and was accompanied by the following despatch, of which
a photograph is given opposite, from Roger le Strange to announce
his victory. It is, as Mr. Morris remarks, 5 laconic to the point
of being tantalising :

A son tre noble seign r Edward par la grace Deu Roy de Engleterre, seign r de
Yrlaund, t Due de Guyene, Rogle 9 Estraunge si le plest saluz, honurs, et reuer-
ences :

Sachez sire ke vos bones gens les queus vus auez assigne de estre entendant a
moy se combatirent ou Leweln le finz Griffin en le paes de Buelt le vendredy
prochein apres la feste seint Nhoilas, issi ke Leweln le finz Griffin est mort et ses
gent desconfit et tote la flour de ses gent morz, sicum le portr de ceste lettre vus
dirra, et le creez de ce ke il vus dirra de par moi.

Surely the wording of the above despatch is sufficient to
establish the fact that the English army at Orewin bridge was
under the command of Roger le Strange.

The headless trunk was buried at Cwmhir Abbey, in the modern
Radnorshire ; the head itself was sent on to London by the King

1 C.P.R., 1272-1281, p. 104. * Exchequer accounts, -fe.

1 Gairdner's Early Chroniclers of England, p. 196.

* Ancient Correspondence, P.R.O., xix. 8. * Welsh Wars, p. 184.

198 LE STRANGE RECORDS

and, crowned with a silver circlet, was carried up Cheapside on
the point of a lance, and was then placed on the Tower as a warn-
ing to all against future attempts at insurrection. 1

After the death of Llewelyn his brother David endeavoured
to make a new centre of resistance at Bere Castle in Merionethshire,
but the Welsh had no resources at their back, and David was not
equal to his brother as a leader. 2 On May 2, 1283, Roger le Strange
was summoned to perform military service in person against them,
and he and the bailiffs of his lordship of Ellesmere were required
to muster at Montgomery. 3 He was present under the command
of William de Valence at the siege of Bere Castle, which surren-
dered on April 25, when Roger was appointed constable thereof ; 4
he was left with his own troop of 20 horse and 2000 foot to patrol
Merionethshire throughout June, and he was able to reduce the
whole district ; his nephew John was also employed on the same
service. 5 Prince David was finally captured on Snowdon at the
end of June, and on the 30th of that month John and Roger were
among the barons summoned to Shrewsbury to treat with the
King as to what should be done with the captive ; 6 he was con-
demned during the sitting of the Parliament at Shrewsbury, and
was executed as a traitor on October 3, 1283. After July there
was no longer any need to keep an army in the field ; the princi-
pality was formally incorporated with England by the Statute
of Wales, enacted at Rhuddlan on March 19, 1284, and Edward
devoted his attention to castle-building in order to hold the
annexed lands.

It has been mentioned 7 that the castle and manor of Chartley,
in Staffordshire, which had belonged to Thomas de Ferrers before
the disturbances in the reign of Henry III, had been granted by
that King to Hamon le Strange (the Crusader). After the death of
Hamon in Palestine in 1273 the castle was seized by Robert de
Ferrers, but as soon as Edward I returned to England his brother
Edmund, Earl of Lancaster, by the King's orders besieged and took

1 Trokelowe, iii. 40 ; Chron. W. de Hemingburgh, ii. pp. 11-13.

2 Pipe Roll, 12 Edw. I, under Salop. 3 Parl. Writs, 1283.
4 Cal. Welsh Rolls, p. 284. 5 Parl. Writs, 1283.
Fcedera, i. 630. 7 Supra, p. 144.

JOHN LE STRANGE (V) 199

the castle ; some years later, viz. on December 20, 1282, a pardon
was issued to the Earl of Lancaster, Henry de Lacy, Earl of
Lincoln, Reginald de Grey, and others of their party, for any
deaths caused in the siege of the castle of Chartley ; also a
pardon for such of the rebels as the said Edmund by letters
patent had received into the King's peace. 1

The manor of Olney, on the borders of Buckinghamshire and
Northamptonshire, formed part of the inheritance of Hugh de
Albini, Earl of Arundel, a fourth part of whose lands descended to
his sister Nicola, the mother of Joan de Somery, wife of John le
Strange (IV). Joan, as we have seen in the last chapter, 2 had
three sisters, so a fourth part of the above fourth, i.e. one-sixteenth
of the whole manor, came to John (V) in right of his mother.
This was not divisible until her death, which must have taken
place in 1282, as on December 15 of that year the Sheriff of North-
ampton was directed to commit to the four parceners viz. Ralph
de Cromwell and Margaret his wife, John le Strange, Walter de
Sully and Mabel his wife, and Maud, late the wife of Henry de
Erdington the manor of Olney, so that they could till and sow
the lands until Easter next. 3 On September 12 of the next year
(1283) the escheator was ordered to deliver to the parceners the
said manor to hold for the same purposes until a month after
Michaelmas. 4 On December I, 1283, the manor was finally
divided among the four co-heirs, full particulars with names of
tenants being given. 5 Two years later they were summoned
to show why they claimed view of frankpledge in Olney ; they
answered that it formerly belonged to Hugh de Daubeney,
and is held in pourparty by three co-parceners, of whom one,
Richard fitz Alan, is under age and in custody of the King, so
that they are meantime in possession of the franchises. 6

The Feudal Aids granted to the King at different periods show
in whose hands the different manors were then held. The Roll
of Fees in Salop for 1284-5 gives the following information viz.

1 C.P.R., 1281-1292, p. 53. Supra, p. 158.

1 C.F.R., 1272-1307, i. 176. Ibid. i. 189.

5 Inq. p.m., Edw. I, File 40 (nj ; Rot. Orig. in cur. Scac., i. 436, and ^6a ; C. Cl. R.,
1279-1288, pp. 196, 238, 293. Plac. de Quo Warr., Edw. I-III, p. 916.

200 LE STRANGE RECORDS

John le Strange held the manor of Ness and Kinton with its
members, viz. Olreton, Hopton, and Wyvelcote, in chief by service
of one knight's fee. 1 Alan de Glasseleye held Glazeley of John
le Strange for half a knight's fee, and John held it of Richard
fitz Alan, who held it of the King. 2 Roger le Strange held the
manor of Little Ercall with its members, viz. Acton, Leyes, and
Golstan, of John le Strange for half a knight's fee, and he of the
King. 3 Wrockwardine was held by John in chief at the annual
rent of 8. 4 Roger held the manor of Cheswardine of John, who
held it of the King by service of half a knight's fee. 5 Roger de
Lodewyche held the vill of Abbeton of Geoffrey de Lodewyche, who
held it of John le Strange, and he of the King for half a knight's
fee. 6 The Roll for Cambridgeshire for 1284-6 shows that John
held two knights' fees in Middleton of Simon de Insula, but how
the latter held was not mentioned. 7 In Staffordshire the Roll
for the same years mentions that Wolrighton was held of him, and
that he held it of Nicholas, Lord Stafford, who held of the King. 8

An article about Norwich thieves in the thirteenth century
by Henry Harrod 9 records a remarkable case which occurred
at Hunstanton in the I4th of Edward I (1285-6). Christiana
Gamot, and Nicholas, the son of Mariota Bagge, of Hunstanton,
were taken to that place in custody, whence they escaped. Each
of them took sanctuary in Hunstanton church, acknowledged
themselves thieves, and abjured the realm before the coroner.
Nicholas returned and broke into the house of John Norman, of
Hunstanton, and carried away goods to the value of 26 marks ;
flying when the hue and cry was raised, he was retaken and be-
headed. This penalty was usually reserved for cases of treason.

The Gaol Delivery Roll of the same year supplies particulars
of an assault which took place at Hunstanton, in which the vicar
and his brother, a chaplain, and a clerk seem to have been impli-
cated. Richard the smith of Hunstanton impleaded Alexander
le Eskermiscur, William Dunny the vicar, Thomas his brother,
Geoffrey de Renham, chaplain, and Gocelin, a clerk of Hunstanton,

1 Feudal Aids, iv. p. 215. * Ibid. p. 218. 8 Ibid. p. 220.

4 Ibid. p. 221. B Ibid. p. 222. Ibid. p. 223.

7 Ibid. i. p. 138. 8 Ibid. v. p. 2. ' Nor}. Arch. vii. 372.

JOHN LE STRANGE (V) 201

for beating, wounding, and maltreating him, and maiming his
left hand ; William denied it, and also pleaded privilege of clergy,
whereupon he was claimed by the Ordinary of the Bishop. The
jury found that none of the others were guilty except Alexander
le Eskermiscur ; he committed the assault, but the others were
present and were also amerced, and Alexander went back to the
vicarage after the row. Alexander had no goods or chattels,
but William, the vicar, came afterwards and paid a fine of half a
mark. The name of William Dunny as vicar of Hunstanton in
1286 is not given by Blomefield. Mr. Walter Rye, to whom I
am indebted for the above information, discovered another in-
stance of a criminous clerk at Hunstanton in the same year ; 1
William, the chaplain of Hunstanton, was charged with murder-
ing an unknown chaplain at Barsham, and was found guilty.
Mr. Rye says that the number of clergy at that period who are
charged on these Crown Plea Rolls with different crimes would
be incredible to anyone who has not searched such records.

The long delay in getting his share of the manor of Olney,
and the expenses to which he was put in connection with the
Welsh war, had again involved John le Strange in debt ; on
October 10, 1283, the Close Rolls contain his acknowledgment for
100 to Robert de Stepelton, secured on his Shropshire lands ; 2
and, on October 18, 1286, he borrowed on the same security 20
of two merchants of Lucca. 3 The King appears to have behaved
generously to him ; on June 3, 1285, the treasurer of the Exchequer
was ordered to acquit him of 200 marks, as it appeared to the
King that John le Strange, John's grandfather, at the time when
he was the late King's Justice of Chester, paid that sum by the
said King's order to the men of Chester for a similar amount
which they had lent to the King. 4 Next year, on February 15,
by a similar order he was acquitted of 14 due to the King for
his relief, as the King had pardoned it to him. 5 He further received
permission to alienate to John de Ludlow a moiety of the manor

M-)
1 Crown Plea Roll for Norf., 14 Edw. I, 4(5. Norf. Antiq. Miscell., ii. 194.

2 )
* C. Cl. R., 1279-1288, p. 239. 3 Ibid. p. 437.

4 Ibid. p. 323. See supra, p. 117. Ibid. p. 384.

202 LE STRANGE RECORDS

of Campden, held of the King in chief ; 1 and he was also accorded
quittance of the common summons in Buckingham on December 5,
I286. 2

In 1286 Edward I went to France and reduced Gascony to
obedience ; he stayed there three years, leaving his cousin Edmund,
Earl of Cornwall, as regent in England. The Welsh took advan-
tage of the King's absence to make an attempt to shake off the
English yoke. Their leader now was Rhys ap Maredudd, lord
of the vale of Towy, and an old ally of the English ; he had
sided with them against Llewelyn in hopes of being placed on
the Welsh throne in his stead, but was contemptuously treated
by them when the war was over ; some grievances connected
with the new position of affairs caused him to head a revolt,
which assumed considerable proportions, in the early summer
of 1287. On June 14 the regent summoned the barons to join
him ' equis et armis ' at Gloucester ; 3 John le Strange had letters
of protection on the 24th for going to Wales upon the King's
service, and on the next day Roger le Strange was despatched
to Wales as commander of the expedition against Rhys ; writs
of assistance were sent to the Sheriffs of Salop and Stafford, and
Peter Corbet, Bogo de Knovill, Fulk fitz Warin, John le Strange,
and his cousin Owen ap Griffith of Pool were required to obey
his commands, 4 and to provide him with 500 footmen. 5 Roger
raised the English of Shropshire and the Marches of Powys,
Bromfield, and Radnor, and joined Reginald de Grey, who had
brought the men of Chester from the north. Within a month
11,000 infantry were concentrated on the Towy, converged from
four different points. Roger le Strange took part in the siege
of Rhys's stronghold, Dryslwyn Castle, near Carmarthen ; he
brought with him 1000 English from Shropshire, and 1940 Welsh
from the Marches, 6 one of his Shropshire centenars being Stephen
de Frankton, commanding the Ellesmere contingent. The Pipe
Roll shows that 150 was paid to Roger for raising infantry. 7

1 C. CL R., 1279-1288, p. 391. * Ibid. p. 406.

8 Rot. Wall., 15 Edw. I, m. 10, d. * Parl. Writs, vol. i.

8 Cal. Welsh Rolls, 1277-1326, p. 306. Morris's Welsh Wars, p. 209.

7 15 Edw. I, memb. i.

JOHN LE STRANGE (V) 203

Dryslwyn Castle surrendered about September 5 and most of
the English forces were dismissed, but early in November Rhys
broke out again and seized Newcastle-Emlyn. Orders were at
once sent, on November 14, 1287, to Roger le Strange to suppress
this new rebellion, and both he and his nephew John were enjoined
to reside on their demesnes and lordships, and not to go away
until the revolt was put down. 1 The danger must have been
regarded as serious, as only the day before John le Strange had
been summoned by the King to join him in Gascony, letters of
protection having been issued to him on November 13, as he was
going there on the King's service for one year. 2 The suppression
of the revolt gave continuous and considerable trouble for several
years ; the Sheriff of Salop was ordered, on July 17, 1287, to provide
200 diggers and 200 carpenters to come with their tools to Here-
ford in the company of Roger le Strange, as the King needed their
services in the expedition to Wales. 3 Mandates were issued on
November 14, 1287, to Roger and John le Strange, and to several
other knights on the Marches, directing them to attack and
pursue Rhys ap Maredudd by night and by day. 4 The King was
dissatisfied with the progress made, and, early in the following
year, he sent William de Henley, Prior of the Hospital of St. John
of Jerusalem, to Wales to survey the state of affairs in those parts,
and the le Stranges and others were directed to give credence
to his requirements. 5 On December 6 John le Strange was
ordered to obey the commands of Peter Corbet, custos of Llan-
badarn. 6 The rebellion was finally put down by Robert de
Tiptoft, but Rhys evaded capture and remained at large till 1291,
when he was taken prisoner, sent to York for sentence, and hanged
there. After the suppression of the revolt power was given to
Roger le Strange to receive into the King's peace all Welshmen
of the land of Powys wishing to come in. 7

When peace had been re-established in Wales, John le Strange,
in obedience to his previous orders, must have joined the King

1 Parl. Writs, p. 1287 ; Rymer, i. 680. * C.P.R., 1272-1281, p. 279.

Col. Welsh Rolls, p. 312. * Ibid. p. 315.

8 Tbid. p. 320. ' Parl. Writs, i. 254, No. 2.
Col. Welsh Rolls, p. 355.

204 LE STRANGE RECORDS

in France, as the Patent Rolls for May 5, 1289, contain letters
of protection for him staying beyond seas with the King until
Michaelmas. 1 Edward returned to England in August, and
there was peace for a few years.

In the 20th of Edward I (1291-2) the Crown claimed from
John le Strange the manors of Kinton and Ness ; John answered
that his ancestor John le Strange received them by grant from
Henry II, and he produced the charter from that King. 2 He
was then summoned to show how he claimed free warren and
other liberties in his manors of Ness, Kinton, and Middle ; he
replied that in Middle he only claimed free warren, but in the
other manors he also claimed all other liberties, such as waifs,
infangentheof, &c., from immemorial user, which was allowed. 8

An undated deed in the British Museum 4 belonging to this
period bears a good seal of the le Strange arms. It is a grant from
John son of John le Strange to brother Stephen, chaplain de insula
de Wilfreton, of two meadows in frankalmoign for the soul of
Walter de Mucegros, whose lands in Herefordshire had been
granted after the battle of Evesham to John le Strange (III). 5
The seal of green wax is appendant to this charter, the legend,
+ S. JOHANNIS LE ESTRAUNGE, is in good preservation ; the
armorial bearings are somewhat indistinct, but show two lions
passant not guardant, as incorrectly described in the 'British
Museum Catalogue of Seals,' ii. 770.

The Gascon Rolls of June 14, 1294, show that John le Strange
was summoned among other barons to join the King at Ports-
mouth on September I equis et armis, to fight against the King of
France ; 6 but a writ, also tested at Westminster on June 14, shows
that le Strange was specially excepted from this general summons. 7
The reason is obvious ; he was wanted to help in putting down
the third and last rising in Wales, which had been provoked by
the compulsory enlistment of Welsh infantry for service oversea. 8
At the beginning of the insurrection the Welsh obtained consider-

1 C.P.R., 1272-1281, p. 315. z Plac. de Quo Warr. (Record Series), p. 6790.

3 Ibid. p. 683a. * Add. Chart. 8068.

5 Supra, p. 137. 6 Bemont, Roles Gascons, iii. No. 3449.

7 Parl. Writs, i. 260, No. 2. 8 Morris, Welsh Wars, p. 242.

JOHN LE STRANGE (V) 205

able successes. Madog, an illegitimate son of Llewelyn, who
claimed to succeed him as prince, led the revolt in Gwynedd, and
there were dangerous risings in other places. A Welsh chronicle,
called Cambria triumphans, quoted by Eyton, 1 mentions a de-
feat of John le Strange at Knockin. Roger le Strange, who had
also been ordered to join the King's army at Portsmouth to go to
Gascony, 2 was despatched to uphold the King's interests in Central
Wales, where the castles of Builth and Bere were blockaded by
the insurgents. On September 28, 1294, a Writ of Aid was sent to
the King's bailiff of Maelor Saesneg in favour of Roger, ' whom
the King is sending for the expedition of certain special affairs/
and the bailiff was ordered to do what Roger should tell him on
the King's behalf ; 3 on the same day similar writs were issued to
the Sheriff of Salop, and to the King's bailiffs of Powys and the
parts adjacent. 4 Roger was also appointed, during pleasure, to the
custody of Welshpool (la Pole) Castle, late of Owen de la Pole, his
nephew, tenant-in-chief a minor in the King's hands. 5 In October
Roger was ordered to join the forces under Richard, Earl of Arundel,
for the relief of the castle of Bere, which was in imminent danger,
' cujus salvationem cupimus toto corde.' 6 Mr. Morris remarks that
' the subsequent silence of documents and chroniclers alike argues
that the relief was effected/ 7 Meanwhile Edward himself had
hurried to North Wales, the seat of greatest danger. The Welsh
succeeded in capturing his commissariat train early in January
1295, and for a short time the King was actually besieged by them
in Conway Castle, but on the arrival of relief towards the end
of the month he obtained a decisive victory over them near the
castle which broke the back of the insurrection ; Prince Madog
was captured, and died a prisoner in the Tower of London.

To return to John le Strange, it appears from an entry in the
Close Rolls of 1295 that, some time previously, he had enfeoffed
John de Ludlow and his wife Isabel jointly in a moiety of his
manor of Campden ; on the death of John de Ludlow this manor

1 x. 333.

2 Bemont, Roles Gascons, p. 241, No. 3417 ; Parl. Writs, Sept. i, 22 Edw. I.
8 C. Cl. R., 1288-1296, p. 395. C.P.R., 1292-1301, p. 88.

6 Ibid. ' Parl. Writs, i. 264. 7 Welsh Wars, p. 52.

206 LE STRANGE RECORDS

was taken into the King's hands, but on August 14 the escheator
was ordered to restore her moiety to Isabel, as the King had taken
her homage. 1 It has been mentioned above 2 that the manor of
Betton, near Cheswardine, had been acquired by Hamon, second
son of Roland le Strange, from the monks of Shrewsbury ; Hamon's
heir was his elder brother John (I), so Betton became one of the
manors held by the main line of Ness and Knockin. Under
the heading of ' History of Shrewsbury Liberties/ an account
of the descent of this manor is given by Mr. John B. Blakeway
in the ' Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Natural
History Society/ 3 which is well worth giving in full :

BETTON STRANGE.

In the 23rd Edw. I (1295-6) it had been long enough possessed by this family
to have acquired the distinctive appellation it still retains of Betton Strange.
For thus it is written in the Book of Fees in the Exchequer on the Treasurer's
side (Ashmole MSS., vol. 859), ' Bogo de Knovill et Eleanora uxor ejus tenent
Betton Extranei de Johanne Extraneo et idem Johannes tenet de Rege in Capite.'
This Eleanor (the daughter and co-heir of William de Blancminster, or Whit-
church) was relict of Robert le Strange, Lord in her right of Blackmere, who died
in 1276. She is called in the pedigrees relict of Bogo de Knovill, but it is manifest
that he was her second husband. Betton Strange was then part of her dower,
and held by her and her husband of the inheritance of John, her eldest son by her
first husband. In the iyth Edward III the said John was in possession of it,
having then a grant of free warren in his lands of Whitchurch, Corfham, Wrock-
wardyn, Sutton Bacton, Longnolre, and Cheswarthyn. Among the Longnor
deeds is one of 10 Edward III, in which John de Tronwell, chaplain, grants to
Sir Hamond le Strange, knight, and Margaret his wife, in tail, his manor of
Betton Strange, which he had of y e feoffment of y e said Sir Hamond, to be held of
y e chief lords of y e fee. The next entry I find in the records concerning this manor
is from the Fines of 47 Edward III in the Tower, m. 14 (Dodsworth MSS.
vol. 32) : ' Rex commisit Johanni, filio Johannis Lestrange junioris, custodiam
maneriorum de Cheswurdyn et Strange Betton cum pertinentiis que fuerunt
Margarete que fuit uxor Hamonis Lestrange defuncte, et que per mortem ipsius
Margarete, et rationis minoris etatis predict! Johannis filii Johannis filii Johannis
consanguine! et heredis predict! Hamonis in manu nostro existunt ; habendum et
tenendum ad licitam etatem predicti Johannis filii Johannis 10 December.'
From this extract it appears that Betton Strange had been the property of Sir
Hamo le Strange of Cheswardine, a younger son of Fulke le Strange of Blackmere,
who was the brother and heir of John mentioned above as being seized of the rever-

1 C. Cl. R., 1288-1296, iii. 422. * Supra, p. 30. Second series, i. 381-3.

JOHN LE STRANGE (V) 207

sion of it in 1295 ; that, on the death of the said Sir Hamo, it devolved to Margaret
his widow for her life, that on her death it descended to John le Strange of Black-
mere, her husband's great-nephew and heir, who being then a minor, it was seized
into the King's hands, and that his majesty now granted it to him for his main-
tenance during his minority. Before all this, however, it had belonged to Fulke,
another younger son of Fulke le Strange of Blackmere, who is expressly styled of
Betton. He left only daughters, in consequence of which this manor passed to
his brother, Sir Hamo, to whom John de Tromwell granted it in n Edward III.

John le Strange, the minor, deceasing two years after the above Fine, viz. in
1375, without attaining full age, and leaving a daughter (who also died an infant),
the manor reverted to the three daughters of Fulke le Strange of Betton : Johanna,
wife of John Carles ; Eleanor, wife of Edward de Acton ; and Margaret le Strange,
a nun of Lingbrooke, who in the same year, 1375 (49 Edward III), released her right
in the manors of Longenorle and Betton to her sisters and their husbands, and,
accordingly, on Sunday before the feast of St. Catherine in the following year,
50 Edward III, we find John Carles and Johan his wife, the eldest of those daugh-
ters, granting certain messuages and half a virgate of land in the town and fields
of Betton Lestrange, which Gilbert son of Annote formerly held, to John son of
Thomas Gilbertes of the same (apparently a descendant of the former) and Alice
his wife.

[e cartis Rev. Jos. Corbett de Logn. archidiaconi de Salop.]

The above particulars are also set forth in an order entered
in the Close Rolls of May 15, 1376, directing the escheator for
Salop to remove the King's hand, and not to meddle further with
the manor of Betton, as the heirs were of full age. 1

King Edward, having successfully quelled the insurrection in
Wales, was prevented, by the necessity of personally opposing
Sir William Wallace in Scotland, from prosecuting his interrupted
expedition to Gascony ; but he despatched an army thither in

1296, under his brother Edmund Crouchback, Earl of Lancaster,
who captured Bordeaux on March 28, but died shortly afterwards.
John le Strange, no longer wanted in Wales, was among those
sent there : an order in the Close Rolls, dated September 28, 1296,
to the King's taker of corn in Salop, Norfolk, and Cambridge,
directs him not to intermeddle in any way with taking the corn
of John le Strange, who is staying in Gascony in the King's service,
wherefore the King wishes to provide for his indemnity, as he is
bound to do. 2 Apparently he returned to England in 1296 or

1297, as by a writ of the latter year he is returned from the county

1 C. Cl. R.. Edw. Ill, xiv. 314. * Ibid., Edw. I, iv. 8.

208 LE STRANGE RECORDS

of Salop among the barons holding land or rents to the amount of
20 yearly value or upwards, and, as such, summoned to perform
military service in person, with horses and arms, in parts beyond
sea ; to muster at London on July 7. 1 There is no evidence that
he went overseas again, and we shall see that in the following
year he was serving in the Scotch war.

The Close Rolls, under date April 15, 1297, give a glimpse of
matters occurring at Hunstanton : an order was issued to restore
to Brother James, called ' Copyn,' of the Order of the Hospital,
Envoy of the King of Denmark, all money arrested by Nicholas
de Holm, and Robert de la Roche, keepers of the port of Holm and
Hunstanton, in the hands of the said James in a cog, lately arrived
in the said port ' per maris intemperiem ' ; the said keepers were
ordered to restore to Brother James and certain merchants of
Flanders and Almain, all goods and wares lately arrested by them
in the aforesaid cog, and to restore to them the cog. z

The Chartularyof the abbey of Haughmond shows that John le
Strange was at that place on December 13, 1297 ; on that day he
inspected the muniments of the abbey concerning Knockin chapel,
and confirmed to abbot Gilbert and his convent the grant thereof
which had been made by his ancestor Ralph about 1190-95.
Ralph's deed is enrolled in the Chartulary ; it grants the per-
petual advowson [jus patronatus capelle de Knokiri], and is wit-
nessed by William fitz Alan, William le Strange, and Jonas the
chaplain. 3 On the same day of the following year, viz. December
13, 1298, John le Strange expedited from Knockin a more general
confirmation to the abbey, which I copy in extenso from Eyton, 4
as it shows in detail the large elemosynary grants which had been
made to that foundation by various members of the le Strange
family during the preceding century :

Sciant presentes et futuri quod ego Johannes Extraneus quintus, cartas et
instrumenta quae habent viri religiosi Abbas et Conventus de Haghmon super
donacionibus et possessionibus quas possident de antecessoribus meis inspexi
. . . que propriis dux exprimenda vocabulis : advocationem ecclesie de Hunstan-

1 Parl. Writs, i. 291, No. 19. * C. Cl. R., Edw. I, iv. 25.

3 Coll. Top. et Geneal., i. 369.

4 x. 373 ; fragment of Chartulary of Haughmond, B.M., Harl. 446 (Aug.).

JOHN LE STRANGE (V) 209

eston cum omnibus pertinentiis suis, advocationem ecclesie de Cheswardin cum per-
tinentiis suis, advocationem ecclesie de Knokyn cum pertinentiis suis, molendinum
de Osberston cum pertinentiis suis, molendinum de brueria, stagnum et vivarium
supra proximum, cum agistiamente aque ex utraque parte et cum omnibus perti-
nentiis suis, Caldecotam cum omnibus pertinentiis suis, totam terrain Radulphi
Hert quam habuit in Teddesmere, cum omnibus pertinentiis suis, villam de Vinel-
cote cum omnibus pertinentiis suis, molendinum de Ruton cum pertinentiis suis,
dimidiam virgatam terre in Weblescote cum pertinentiis suis, duas virgatus
terre in Baldreton cum p. s., tres acras terre in Bilemers cum p. s., totam villam de
Naginton cum p. s., unam virgatam terre et dimidiam in Bireton cum p. s., molen-
dinum et dimidiam cum dimidia virgata terre in Alvitheleg cum p. s., molendinum
de Stretton super Dunnesmore cum p. s., totam terram quam habent in Cheswardin
cum p. s., quandam partem prati quam habent in Muddleswode cum omnibus
p. s. Quas quidem donaciones et concessiones, ratas et firmas in liberam puram et
perpetuam elemosynam, habendas ipsis omnes et singulas, pro me et heredibus meis
quibuscunque, iisdem canonicis et successoribus suis confirmo et presentis script!
testimonio sigillo meo signato corroboro et warantizabo in perpetuum. Datum
apud Le Knokyn die sabbati in festo sancte Lucie Virginis, anno gracie millesimo
cc mo nonagesimo octavo, et anno regni regis Edwardi filii regis Henrici xxvij . 1

The above deed, detailing merely the possessions of a single
abbey in a single county, derived from a single family, gives some
idea of the enormous amount of landed property held by the dead
hand of religious houses, which had led to the passing of the
Statute of Mortmain a few years previously.

The King, having concluded a two years' truce with France
in 1298, marched into Scotland and defeated the Scots at Falkirk
on July 22 : among others, ' Johan Lestraunge ' was summoned
to join Edward at Carlisle, ' as chevas et armes a Carloil pour aler
avant en la busoigne d'Escoce.' z On December 12 he had quittance
of the common summons of the eyre for common pleas in the
county of Cambridge. 3 In the following year he was again sum-
moned as a baron to perform military service against the Scots ;
the muster was first appointed for June 6, 1299, at Carlisle ; it
was adjourned to August 2, but on July 16 the barons were dis-
charged from their attendance at Carlisle, and ordered to be ready
to proceed on the King's service at any time on receiving forty
days' notice ; this notice was given in the winter, for John le
Strange received orders to join the muster at York on November I2. 4

1 Harl. MSS. 449 ; Quatern., xi. fo. 6. Rot. Glaus., 26 Edw. I, m. 6, d.

8 C. Cl. R., iv. 293. * Parl. Writs for 1299, i. 134, No. 22.

210 LE STRANGE RECORDS

On December 30, 1299, he received orders to be at Carlisle
with the other barons at midsummer ensuing to set out thence
against the Scots. 1

A roll of Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Essex and Hereford,
Constable of England, contains the proffers of service made at the
muster at Carlisle on the Eve of St. John the Baptist ; from the
following entry therein it looks as if John le Strange, in addition
to his own military service, performed that of another knight :
' Johannes de Mules recognovit et offert servicium duorum feodo-
rum militis factum per Johannem le Estraunge militem, Rogerum
de Ryvers, et Philippum Trenchefil.' 2

By a Fine of October 6, 1299, the manor of Mudle [Middle,
Salop] was entailed on John le Strange of Knockin and Matilda
his wife, and the heirs of their bodies, with remainder to the
right heirs of John le Strange. 3 The inquest taken on his death
shows that he held Middle under Edmund, Earl of Arundel. 4

Writs were issued from Berwick-upon-Tweed on December
29, 1299, for Parliament to meet at London on February 27
following, and among those summoned we find ' Johanni
Extraneo/ 5 It is this summons which the lawyers of later times
have held as having created the barony by writ of STRANGE OF
KNOCKIN, in virtue of which John le Strange (V) was described
in later phrase as the first Lord Strange of Knockin. He was
returned from the county of Gloucester as holding lands, &c., to
the yearly value of 40 and upwards, and, as such, was summoned
under general writ to perform military service in person against
the Scots, to muster at Carlisle on June 24, 1300. The royal
army entered Scotland early in July, ravaged Galloway, and
returned to England in November. That John le Strange was
present during this campaign is shown by the mention of him
in the contemporary poem on the siege of Caerlaverock, written
probably by one of the heralds who accompanied the King ; it
gives in metrical form a list in Norman-French of the armorial
bearings of the nobles and knights who were present at the siege,
and is one of the earliest rolls of arms extant. It was printed

1 Faedera, i. 916. * Doc. illust. Hist of Scotland, i. 226.

Eyton, x. 67. - Ibid. ; Inq., 3 Edw. II, No. 46.

Close Roll, 28 Edw. I. Parl. Writs, i. 849.

JOHN LE STRANGE (V) 211

with notes and a translation by Sir Harris Nicolas in 1828, and wa
re-edited by Thomas Wright in 1864 from the MS. in the British
Museum ; in this latter edition the coats of arms are emblazoned
in their proper colours. The mention of le Strange is as follows *

Johans le Estrange le ot livre'e
Rouge o deuz blans lyons passants.

The castle of Caerlaverock is situated near the southern
shore of the Solway Firth, near the mouth of the river Nith ;
it was thus one of the first fortified places encountered by
Edward after he had crossed the border, and was besieged and
captured by him on July 10 or n, 1300.

It was while he was on this expedition that the King received
the letter of Pope Boniface VIII claiming for the Holy See feudal
supremacy over Scotland, and ordering Edward to withdraw his
troops, release his prisoners, and desist from the war with that
country. 1 The King replied that he must consult his counsellors
on a matter concerning the rights of his Crown, and a Parliament
was accordingly summoned on September 26, to meet at Lincoln
on January 20, 1301 ; z the name of John le Strange appears
in the list of barons to whom writs for this purpose were sent.
Parliament met accordingly, and the reply of England to the
papal pretensions was given in the well-known letter to the Pope,
dated at Lincoln on February 12, 1301, and sealed by seven earls
and ninety-six barons, or magnates, to whose territorial designa-
tions the title dominus is attached. In no ambiguous terms the
supremacy of the Crown of England over the realm of Scotland
from the very foundation of the kingdom of England was asserted,
and the Holy Father was roundly informed, on behalf of all those
whose names were attached, as well as for the whole community
of England, that the King would not be permitted to answer before
him in any way touching the rights of the kingdom of Scotland,
or other temporalities of his Crown. Among these names appear
the following :

Rogerus le Estraunge, dominus de Ellesmere.
Johannes le Estraunge, dominus de Cnokyn.
Fufco le Estraunge, dominus de Corfham.

1 Orig. in P.R.O. Museum. Par/. Writs, i. 90.

P 2

212 LE STRANGE RECORDS

It is worthy of note that, whereas several other families viz.
Hastings, de Grey, Mortimer, and Segrave produced two members
apiece who sealed this letter, no house except that of le Strange
furnished three holders of baronies whose names appear therein.
Photographic copies of the seals of these three barons will be
found below in Chapter XI on the heraldry of the family. 1

The Close Rolls of February 13, 1301, contain an acknowledg-
ment by John le Strange that he owes to Aynerus de Podio 60
marks, to be levied in default on his lands and chattels in Norfolk. 2
The Sheriff of Shrdpshire was directed on May 21, 1301, to ascer-
tain by inquisition whether it would be to the King's prejudice
if leave were given to Roger, son of John, to grant in fee simple
to John le Strange the serjeanty of the forestership of the forest
in the county of Salop, and the manors of Buildwas, Brimneld,
and Isenbrigg, held in chief. 3 The jury reported favourably,
and licence to make the grant was issued on June 2. 4

John le Strange was summoned with other barons to be at
Berwick on June 24 to perform military service against the Scots ;
his son John, then a youth of nineteen, was among those sum-
moned from the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk to the same
muster ; 5 the King invaded Scotland in July, but met with little
opposition ; he wintered there and made a truce with the Scots
until November 30, 1302. An order had been sent from Lincoln
on February 14, 1301, to the bailiffs and men of Thornham and
Holme, to be with the King at Berwick-upon-Tweed at midsummer
with one ship well found with men and other necessaries, ready
to set out at the King's wages against the Scots. The list of
ships requisitioned from different places in the neighbourhood
measures, to a certain extent, the relative importance of the
several ports : 6

Blakeney was ordered to furnish 2 ships.
Heacham and Flitcham ,, i ,,
Lynn 3

Boston ,, I ,,

1 Infra, Plate X. 2 C. Cl. R., Edw. I, iv. 479.

Chanc. Inq. A.Q.D., File 34 (7). * C.P.R., 1281-1292, p. 579.

s Parl. Writs, i. 849. 6 C. Cl. R., Edw. I, iv. 482.

JOHN LE STRANGE (V) 213

The entries of sums paid to the Crown in respect of Feudal
Aids afford evidence as to the tenure of lands ; the following relate
to John le Strange in the year 1302 :

In Cambridgeshire for two knights' fees in the vill of Middle-
ton, 4.*

In Norfolk the manor of Tottington was held for the term of
her life by John de Thorp and Alicia his wife, of Constantine de
Mortimer, for three parts and one-fifth, of John le Strange, who
held it of Robert de Montalt, and Robert of the Earl of Arundel,
the tenant in capite. John held further in Tottington the twen-
tieth part of a knight's fee of Robert de Montalt, who held as
above. 2

In the parish of Mendham, which was formerly partly in Norfolk,
though now wholly in Suffolk, John le Strange and Thomas de
la Lathe held half a knight's fee of the heirs of Roger de Hunting-
field. 8 In the Hundred of Smithdon le Strange is entered as
holding two knights' fees in Hunstanton of Robert de Montalt,
one of the heirs of the Earl of Arundel, who himself held of the
King ; it is expressly stated that le Strange and his tenants held
these two fees in demesne in his own manor of Hunstanton ; he
further held a quarter and a half of a fee of the said heir, as of the
barony of Mileham. 4 In Wesenham he appears to have held a
moiety of a quarter of a knight's fee of Mileham of the same earl. 5
In Sniterton half a knight's fee, a twentieth, and another twentieth
part, were held under him by different tenants, he holding under
the King. 6 A knight's fee in Ringstead and Holme, formerly
held by John le Strange of Robert de Montalt as heir of the Earl of
Arundel, had been alienated by subinfeudation to several tenants ;
and a fourth of a fee in South Pickenham, held by le Strange, or
John de Harsik, of Edmund fitz Alan, had been alienated in the
same way. 7 The above entries show that John (V) in 1302 held, by
himself or his sub-tenants, slightly more than the five knights'
fees in Norfolk which had been held under William de Albini
(II), Earl of Arundel, by his great-great-grandfather, John

1 Feudal Aids, 1284-1431, i. 149. Ibid. iii. 392.

Ibid. p. 395. ' Ibid. pp. 409-410, 438. * Ibid. p. 417. j

Ibid. p. 424. 7 Ibid. p. 438.

214 LE STRANGE RECORDS

(I). 1 He is entered in the Fee Rolls for Suffolk for 1302-3 as
holding a quarter of a knight's fee at Downham of the Earl of
Oxford. 2

Eyton states 3 that between the years 1299 and 1309 John le
Strange sold the manor of Ruyton, with all its homages and fees,
to his suzerain, Edmund Earl of, Arundel, and with it passed the
distant manor of Glazeley, which was an appurtenance of Ruyton.

In 1302 proposals were made for peace with France, but Philip
refused to treat unless the Scots were included, and he also required
that King Edward should pass over in person to negotiate ; Parlia-
ment was ordered to meet in London at Michaelmas, and among
those summoned was John le Strange. 4 It met on October 14,
and refused to allow the King to go to France, treating the demand
as an insult. Early in 1303 the Scots again rose in arms, and
gained several successes ; Edward assembled a large army, and
we find John le Strange among the barons ordered to muster at
Berwick on May 26. 5 That he obeyed the summons is shown by
a letter, dated June 14, 1303, from Phelipot de Wyndesor, vadlet
of Sir John le Strange, attesting the receipt, for Sir John at Ber-
wick, of 30 quarters of wheat, 4 hogsheads of wine, &c., from the
King's stores there. 6 Edward had just concluded a peace with
France, by which he recovered possession of Guienne, and arranged
a marriage between the Prince of Wales and Philip's daughter
Isabella ; the Scots, deserted both by the Pope and Philip, were
abandoned to the vengeance of Edward, who overran their country,
and took up his winter quarters in the great abbey of Dunferm-
line. A list of those with him there has the following entry :

Ces sont les noums de celx qui demorreront en le servise le Roi a Dunf ermelyn
et aillors en Escoce ; Monsieur Johan Lestraunge. 7

During John's absence in Scotland there was some trouble at
his home in Wales ; the Patent Rolls contain a commission of
Oyer and Terminer, dated November 23, 1303, touching the persons

1 Supra, p. 23. Feudal Aids, v. 32. 3 x. 114.

* Parl. Writs, i. 115, No. 10. Ibid. i. 367, No. i.

C. Doc. Scot. ii. 352, No. 1373. 7 Doc. Hist. Scot., Palgrave, i. 263.

JOHN LE STRANGE (V) 215

who killed Yevan ap Meiler, several Welshmen, and a man of John
le Strange, by le Knokyn in the March of Wales, within the
liberty of the said John le Strange of Knockin. 1

In the following year, 1304, the only place in Scotland which
still bade defiance to Edward was the castle of Stirling, which
withstood a siege of three months before it surrendered. A roll of
the magnates and others who served the King at this siege contains
the name of ' Monsieur Johan Lestrange i estate.' 2

An inquisition of 1318 supplies the name of a daughter of
John le Strange, unknown even to Eyton. A writ of certiorari
to the Bishop of St. Asaph directs him to inquire on what day
and at what place Griffith, son and heir of Madog ap Griffith of
Glyndyvrdwy, married Elizabeth, daughter of John le Strange. It
is endorsed with a return that the marriage took place at his manor
of Rhuthallt in Glyndyvrdwy, on the quinzaine of the Nativity of
St. John the Baptist (July 8), 1304. The marriage is also recorded
in the Red Book of St. Asaph, where Madog is described as of
Glyndowedwy. 3 This second occasion when a daughter of a
John le Strange married a Welsh magnate is particularly interest-
ing in that, as has been shown by Professor Tout in the ' Dictionary
of National Biography,' 4 it is pretty clear that Elizabeth le Strange
was the grandmother of the Welsh hero, Owen Glendower. Pro-
fessor Tout has supplied me with information on this point,
worked out more clearly than in the ' Dictionary of National
Biography,' in which he had confused the generations.

Elizabeth's husband, Gruffydd ap Madog, was the grandson of
Gruffydd Vychan, the grandson of Gruffydd of Maelor, or Bromfield
(d. 1269) , the representative of the princes of Lower Powys. I have
already mentioned B that Roger le Strange had acted as custos of
Bromfield before that office was granted to Earl Warenne. Already
in 1278 complaint had been made that the le St ranges were unjustly
occupying some of his former lands. After the heirs had been
ousted in 1282 in favour of Earl Warenne, Gruffydd Vychan,

1 C.P.R., 1301-1307, p. 270. * Doc. Hist. Scot., Palgrave, i. 268.

3 C.I.P.M., Edw. II, vi. 80, No. 128, cf. No. 256 ; Coll. Top. et Gen., i. 274.

4 xvi. 414, article on ' Ednyved ' ; xxi. 427, article on ' Owen Glendower.'

5 Supra, p. 192.

216 LE STRANGE RECORDS

Madog's father, had received Glyndyvrdwy to hold of the King
at the request of Earl Warenne ; 1 this was on February 12, 1283.
Gruffydd Vychan's son Madog died on November 12, 1304, and
his son, the Griffith who married Elizabeth le Strange, was born
in 1298, so that he was only six years old at the time of his marriage.
Clearly, le Strange took advantage of his position to secure more
Welsh lands for his family. A petition of Maud, widow of John le
Strange (V), made in the 8th of Edward II, when she was wife
of Thomas Hastang, 2 shows that they bought the marriage from
Madog, at a cost of 50, paid in advance. After Madog died,
le Strange continued to act as keeper of his son-in-law's lands
until his own death. The husband of Elizabeth was certainly
grandfather of Owen Glendower, and no other marriage of his
is on record. That Glyndyvrdwy was entailed on their heirs is
borne out by a settlement thereof 3 made to a Griffith of Glyn-
dyvrdwy, great-grandfather of Owen Glyndwr's daughter Alice,
and to a certain Elizabeth his wife, and to their heirs. It was
thus, through the le Strange marriage, that Glyndwr's estates were
continued to his successors. Professor Tout gives me the following
as a provisional genealogy, showing that Elizabeth le Strange was
grandmother of Owen Glendower.

GRIFFITH OF BROMFIELD, d. 1269.
Madog ap Griffith, d. 1278.

Griffith Vychan ap Madog, received Glyndyvrdwy, 1283.

Madog ap Griffith, d. Nov. 12, 1304.
Griffith ap Madog, = Elizabeth le Strange,

b. 1298.

m. July 8, 1304.

Alive and aged 22,
Nov. 1320.
Griffith Vychan ap Griffith,

Owen Glyndwr, b. 1359.

Alice Scudamore.
1 Cal. Welsh Rolls, p. 266. Rot. Parl. i. 306. Rot. Parl. iv. 440.

JOHN LE STRANGE (V) 217

The ' Parliamentary Writs ' show that John le Strange was
summoned to the Parliament at Westminster for February 16,
prorogued to February 28, 1305. On April 5, 1306, he was
among those summoned to treat with the King at Westminster
concerning an aid on the knighting of Edward, Prince of Wales. 1
He was again summoned next year to the Parliament at West-
minster for May 30, and also to perform military service in person
against the Scots, or to appear at the Exchequer to compound
for such service ; the muster was to be at Carlisle on July 8.
The reason for this was that Robert Bruce had left the English
Court and raised the standard of revolt in Scotland. He was
crowned King as Robert I, at Scone, on March 25, 1306, but was
soon obliged to fly to the west of Scotland. A memorandum in
the General Register Office at Edinburgh, relating to expeditions
in search of Robert Bruce, details the wages of divers knights and
soldiers in the valley of the Nith, pursuing the said Robert and
his accomplices, the King's enemies, between March 5 and April 23 ;
among the knights are mentioned John le Strange and Edmond
Foliot. 2

Le Strange was summoned to the last Parliament of Edward I,
held at Carlisle on January 20, 1307, and his name is entered
on the Roll accordingly. 3 The King assembled a large army at
Carlisle in the early summer of 1307, and prepared, for the third
time in his reign, to undertake the conquest of Scotland ; he
had scarcely commenced his march toward the border when he
sickened and died, after only a few days' illness, on July 7.

A new Parliament, to which le Strange was summoned, was
ordered to meet at Northampton on October 13 ; * by two writs,
tested at Dover on January 18 and 19, 1308, he was summoned
to attend the ceremony of the King's coronation on February 25,
and a Parliament at Westminster on March 3 ; a further writ
of the loth of that month required his attendance at another
Parliament on April 28. 5 It was on the assembling of this body

1 Parl. Writs, i. 136, No. i, and i. 139, No. 6.

* C. Doc. Scot., ii. 511, No. 1923. C. Doc. Scot., ii. 511, No. 1923.
4 Parl. Writs, ii. Div. 3, 1470 ; Close Rolls, i Edw. II, memb. 12, dorso.

Ibid.

218 LE STRANGE RECORDS

that complaints were made of the conduct of the King's favourite,
Piers Gaveston, and he was banished for a time, but was made
Governor of Ireland. Some show must have been made of an
intended expedition against Scotland, as we find le Strange sum-
moned with other barons to muster at Carlisle on August 22, 1308,
for that purpose. 1 He had a further summons to a Parliament
at Westminster on October 20 ; John, his son, had letters of
protection while in the King's service at the same time. 2

The Patent Rolls of April i, 1308, contain a licence for John
le Strange to 'Kernellare mansum suum de Medle.' 3 Some small
remains of this crenellated dwelling-house still exist. Middle
stands about eight miles north of Shrewsbury, near the road
leading to Ellesmere, on level ground, with no natural advan-
tages for defence. The earthworks perhaps originally formed a
mote castle, and were subsequently altered into a moated home-
stead. In their present state one may trace a low rectangular
platform with a sharp scarp faced with masonry, and surrounded
by a plateau, in its turn defended by a moat full of water, bridged
on the eastern side. Near the centre stands a small octagonal
tower of three stories: A narrow arched doorway on the ground-
floor gave access to a ruined newel staircase with windows on the
second and third floors ; above the second floor the building
diminished to a crenellated turret. A projecting stone on the
external wall, just above the bold string-course, bears carved on
it a small shield with the two lions passant of the le Stranges, still
remaining very distinct when I visited the place in July, 1906.
This stone is unfortunately not in its original position. A paper
in the ' Transactions of the Shropshire Architectural and Natural
Historical Society ' 4 gives a history of Myddle, by the Rev. G. H.
Egerton, rector of the parish; he cites a ' History of Myddle, ' written
by the antiquary Richard Gough in 1700, but not printed till
1834, which says :

After Wild Humphrey [Kinaston's] time the castle of Myddle was never in-

1 ParL Writs, ii. Div. 3, 1470 ; Close Rolls, i Edw. II, memb. 12, dorso.

2 Rot. Scot., i. 550. s C.P.R., 1307-1313, p. 62.
* Second series, vii. p. 10.

JOHN LE STRANGE (V) 219

habited, but went utterly to ruin ; of the one turret that remains at the present
time part of the tower fell down in an earthquake about the year 1688.

Mr. Egerton adds :

When I first came to Myddle in 1847 the appearance of the top of the turret
corresponded with Cough's account, but when the late Lord Alford visited Myddle
a short time after, he gave his Agent orders to preserve the Tower from falling
any worse. The Agent did so, and at the same time crenellated the top in the
manner in which it now is. There was also at that time a stone in the wall by the
moat with a coat of arms on it in good preservation. A lion passant, which I
imagine was that of the Lords Strange. One day, on taking some friends to see
it, to my horror I found it had disappeared, nor for a long time could I discover
what had become of it, till I heard it had been taken by the Agent to Ellesmere to
beautify his own rockery. His successor kindly restored it, and it is now placed
on the side of the Tower, where it can easily be seen, but not easily removed.

On March 4, 1309, a writ was issued to John le Strange to
attend Parliament at Westminster on April 27, but it was dis-
missed by the King without transacting any business of import-
ance.

In the previous year severe measures had been taken against
the Order of the Templars, whose wealth and power had excited
the cupidity and resentment of the King. The knights were seized
in each county on the same day, January 10, 1308, and their
estates were placed in charge of the Sheriffs. A mandate was
issued on May 7, 1309, to John le Strange, ' custodi terrarum et
tenementorum Templariorum in comitatu Salopie, et vicecomiti
ejusdem comitatus,' to hold an inquiry into the claim of the abbot of
Haughmond to an annual rent of 175. 4^., issuing out of the lands
in Holtprene, held by the master and brethren of the Temple ; the
inquiry was held, and on June 18 le Strange was ordered to pay
the rent to the abbot, with a year's arrear thereof. 1 This writ is
actually quoted by Eyton 2 without his having noticed that it
establishes the fact that John le Strange was Sheriff of Shropshire
in 1309 ; Eyton, in his list of Sheriffs of Salop, mentions no one
between Richard de Harley, who occurs 1301-3, and Roger de
Cheney, who witnessed a deed as Sheriff in 1316.

1 Cole, Doc. Ittust. Eng. Hist, in Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries, from Records
of Queen's Rememb. of Exchq., p. 187. * vi. 227.

220

LE STRANGE RECORDS

A Roll of Arms has been preserved of a tournament held at
Stepney on May 28, 1309, at which three le Strange knights were
present viz. Sir John, who bore gules, two lions passant argent,
within an orle of eight martlets, or ; Sir Fulk bore argent, two
lions passant, gules ; these two are stated to have been in the
retinue of the Earl of Lancaster. Sir Hamon le Strange, men-
tioned as ' de la Commune,' bore, gules, two lions passant, argent,
surmounted by a bendlet, or. 1

John le Strange was summoned to a Parliament to be held
at Stamford on July 27, 1309, and by a further writ tested at
Stamford on June 20, he was requested to prepare to join the ex-
pedition against the Scots, in such manner as should be ordained
in such Parliament. 2 On July 30 he was ordered to be at Newcastle-
on-Tyne ' equis et armis ' on Michaelmas day. 3 A mandate, dated
at Stamford on August 5, required him to raise a hundred foot-
soldiers from his lordship at Knockin, and certain commissioners
of Array were empowered to act in the matter. 4 On the same
day the King wrote to Roger de Mortimer of Chirk, Justice of
Wales, that, as the Scots do not observe the truce, an array is
summoned against them, and lists were enclosed of the quotas
to be sent from Wales ; among them is ' centum de hominibus
Johannis Lestraunge de partibus de Knokyn.' 5 The Scotch Rolls
also mention this requisition for the hundred men from Knockin ; 6
evidently these seasoned troops from the Welsh March were
regarded as especially useful.

If John le Strange, as seems probable, was in the camp at
Berwick early in August 1309, it was his last service ; he must
have died in the first week of that month, as the writ of ' Diem clausit
extremum ' on his death is tested at Berwick on August 8. 7 In-
quisitions consequent thereon were held at various dates in the
different counties in which he held land in right of himself or his
wife, viz. in Warwickshire, Gloucestershire, Cambridge, Oxford,
and Salop, but no mention is made of Norfolk, as his manors there

1 Collect. Top. et Gen., iv. 63, 70.
3 Close Rolls, 3 Edw. II, m. 44^.

6 Close Rolls, 3 Edw. II, memb. 9.

7 Escheats, 3 Edw. II, No. 46.

1 Parl. Writs, ii. Div. 3, 1470, &c.

Parl. Writs.

Rot. Scot., i. 68a, 696.

JOHN LE STRANGE (V) 221

were not held in capite. The Warwick inquisition, held on
September 25, shows that he held there the manor of Walton
Deyville, as of the inheritance of Maud his wife, of the Earl of
Warwick, by knight's service. 1 The Gloucestershire inquisition,
taken at Tewkesbury on October 5, states that he held no lands
or tenements as of fee in that county, but that he held, of the
inheritance of Matilda his wife, at Schevyndon, one messuage,
three virgates of land, and five acres of meadow, of the heirs of
John le Soor by the service of id. per annum ; the said messuage
being worth iSd. per annum, the three virgates 405., and the five
acres of meadow los. ; price of the acre 2s ; sum, 515. 6d. 2 In
Cambridge the jurors, writing on October 7, say that he held the
manor of Middleton (extent given) jointly with Maud his wife,
who still survives, of the Bishop of Ely by service of two knights'
fees, and a pair of gilt spurs, or 6d. yearly. 3 It is not easy to
reconcile this with the settlement of Middleton in 1276,* on John's
first wife Alianora, by which his second wife could not have bene-
fited ; possibly, as Eyton suggests, some intermediate trans-
action may have taken place ; Joan de Somery, John's mother,
to whom Middleton reverted on the death of Alianora without
issue, may have resettled the manor on her son's second wife.
Two days before this Cambridgeshire inquisition was held, viz.
on October 5, the King's escheator was ordered to deliver the
manor of Middleton and the issues received to Maud, as it appeared
by a fine levied in the late King's Court between John and Maud,
demandants, and William Moryn, deforciant, that the said John
acknowledged the manor to be the right of the said William as
what he had of his gift, and that the said William granted and
restored the same to the said John and Maud. 5

An Oxfordshire inquisition, held on April 3, 1310, gives an
extent of the manor of Alcrynton, held by le Strange and his wife
Maud of John de Lodbrook by service of id. yearly. 6 The Shrop-
shire inquisitions, held on September 20, 1309, are very defective,
and such as exist are in very bad condition ; the jury say that

1 C.I.P.M., 3 Edw. II, No. 46. Chancery Inq. p.m., 3 Edw. II, No. 46.

8 Ibid. Supra., p. 186. * C. Cl. R., Edw. II, 1307-1313, p. 179.

6 C.I.P.M., Edw. II, v. in, No. 211.

222 LE STRANGE RECORDS

John le Strange held the manors of Kynton and Ness (extents
given), including lands in Weston, the hamlet of Wyvelcote,
Hopton, and Olreton, members of Kynton and Ness, of the King
in chief by the service of one knight's fee ; also the manor of
Middle (extent given), which he held of Edmund fitz Alan by
service of one knight ; that his heir is his son John, who was of
the age of twenty-seven years on Whitsunday last (May 18) ;
also that he held the manor of Cheswardine. 1 The Close Rolls
contain some entries relating to the dower of John's wife, Maud
d'Eiville. On October 5, 1309, the escheator was directed to
deliver to her the manor of Middle, and the issues received, as it
appears by a Fine levied in the late King's Court, between John
le Strange of Knockin, demandant, and Ralph de Shirleye, de-
forciant, that the said John acknowledged the manor to be the
right of the said Ralph, as what he had of his gift, and that the
said Ralph granted and rendered it to him and to the said Maud
his wife. 2 A memorandum of October 26 states that the chan-
cellor prefixed a day, to wit, in fifteen days from Sunday next
following, for John le Strange to be present, if he so chose, at
the assignment of dower to Maud in the chancery of York. 3 The
escheator was ordered, on October 30, 1309, to assign to Maud dower
of her husband's lands, in the presence of John, his son and heir,
he having done homage for them, saving to the said Maud her
rights, as she has taken oath not to marry without the King's
licence. 4 On March 28 following the escheator in the county of
Chester had a mandate to restore to her the manors of Stafford
and Dunham, which she held jointly with her late husband for
their lives, of the gift of Edmund, Earl of Arundel, which manors
the escheator had taken into the King's hands on the pretext
that she had married Thomas de Hastang without the King's
licence. 5 That she did marry him appears from the fact that
in the Nomina Villarum of 1316 Thomas de Hastang stands as
lord of Middle. 6

John le Strange (V) left, by his second wife, Maud d'Eiville,

i C. Edw. II, FUe 16 (6). C. Cl. R., 1307-13, P- i?9-

Ibid. p. 234. * Ibid. p. 184.

8 Ibid. p. 202. ' See also Rot. Parl., i. 306.

JOHN LE STRANGE (V) 223

three sons and one daughter ; the eldest son, John (VI), succeeded
his father as second Lord Strange of Knockin ; the second son,
Eubulo, married Alice de Lacy, and was summoned to Parliament
as a baron from 1326 to 1335 ; of him I shall have more to say
later. The third son, Hamon, was, immediately after his eldest
brother's succession to the lordship of Knockin, enfeoffed by
him in the Norfolk manor of Hunstanton, and through his de-
scendants there carried on the name of le Strange after it had
died out in Shropshire. Of the daughter, Elizabeth, I have men-
tioned * all that I know, viz. that she married Griffith ap
Madog in 1304, and became the ancestress of Owen Glendower.

ROGER LE STRANGE OF ELLESMERE.

Roger, the third son of John le Strange (III), and uncle of
John (V), had several Shropshire manors settled on him during
the lifetime of his father. Before 1263 his father had made over
to him ' whatever interest he had in little Ercall ' ; 2 this grant
involved Roger in a lawsuit with the abbot of Combermere, to
whom some part of the manor had been given for a term of years
by John (III) ; the suit was suspended during the troublous years
that followed, but was finally settled in Roger's favour in October
I272, 3 and he thus became tenant-in-fee of Little (now Child's)
Ercall, with its members, Hungry Hatton, the Lee, and Goldstone,
holding of John le Strange, and he of the King in chief by the
service of one knight's fee. 4 An extent of Little Ercall, made in
October 1280, states that Roger's gross receipts were only 155. Sd.
per annum, but, for some unexplained reason, they only valued
a moiety of the manor.

Cheswardine, which like Little Ercall had come to John le
Strange (I) on the death of his younger brother Hamon, c. n6o, 5
was one of the estates settled in fee by John (III) on his son Roger ;
the Edward Lloyd Roll, quoted above, states that Roger held
that manor with its members, viz. Soudley Magna and Parva,

1 Supra, p. 215. Eyton, viii. 13. 8 Assizes, 56 Hen. Ill, m. n, dorso.

Coll. Top. et Gen. i. 112, from a Roll in the collection of Edward Lloyd, of tenants
in capite and sub-tenants in Shropshire, temp. Edw. I. Supra, p. 30.

224 LE STRANGE RECORDS

Westumscete, Chepernoll', and Hull, of John le Strange, and he
of the King in chief ; but that Roger owed service to the King
of one knight's fee, and had there his free court, with pleas of
bloodshed, and hue-and-cry, and had warren, which franchises
he had used ; we shall see later on that these franchises were
called in question by the Crown officials. Eyton thinks l that it
may have been between the years 1260 and 1265 that Roger, as
lord of Cheswardine, confirmed to Haughmond Abbey its previous
acquisitions in this manor. The extent of Cheswardine is given
as 44 acres and two mills in demesne, the whole income of
the manor being valued at 6 145. 8Jd 2

It has already been mentioned 3 that in 1264 Roger, with his
brothers Hamon and Robert, was in arms on the King's side
against the Earl of Leicester ; he escaped with Edward in the
defeat of Lewes on May 14, and six days after that battle he was
ordered to be sent to Ireland, 4 but, like his brothers, he seems to
have evaded exile, and continued to fight for the King. After
the victory of Evesham in the following year Roger's services
were rewarded by the grant of a capital messuage in the city of
London, which had been forfeited by Peter Hardel, ' the King's
enemy.' 5 He received a further reward from the forfeited lands
of Henry de Hastings, who had been admitted to the benefits of
the ' Dictum de Kenilworth,' but an order was made that the manors
were not to be restored to him till Roger le Strange, who had a
grant of the fine for their redemption, should be fully satisfied. 6

Roger, we have seen, 7 was one of the witnesses to his brother
Hamon's assignment of the manor of Stretton to his sister Hawise
de la Pole, when he started for the crusade from which he never
returned ; and that Hamon raised money for his expenses by
enfeoffing Roger in the manors of Ellesmere, Colemere, and
Hampton. These transactions had taken place without licence
from the Crown, consequently the escheator for Cheshire ejected
Roger from the three manors and seized them into the hand of
the King, who at that time, 1273, was still absent in Palestine.
Roger petitioned the Crown on the merits of the case, and an in-

1 x. 32. a Forest Rolls, Salop, No. 14. * Supra., p. 136.

Fcedera, i. 435. 6 C.P.R., 1258-1266, p. 468. 8 Ibid. p. in.

7 Supra, p. 145.

JOHN LE STRANGE (V)

225

quisition was held, 1 with the result that, on April 20, 1274, an order
was issued to the Sheriff of Salop and the escheator of Cheshire,
to deliver to Roger the manors of Colemere and Hampton, which
Hamon had purchased and held of Peter de Montfort, and whereof
he had enfeoffed Roger and his heirs before he took his journey
to the Holy Land, to hold by permission of the King's lieuten-
ants in England, until the King's coming back. 2 After Edward's
return he gave, on November 24, 1275, a grant for life to Roger,
with reversion to the Crown, of the castle and hundred of Ellesmere,
and the manors of Colemere and Hampton, which the said Roger
had of the gift of his brother Hamon, and had surrendered into
the King's hands. 3 The Edward Lloyd Tenure Roll shows that
Hampton was held by Roger of John fitz Alan by the service
of one knight's fee at Oswestry for fifteen days in time of war ;
and that Colemere was held by him of Bartholomew de Burgh
by the service of the third part of a knight's fee. 4

The manor and hundred of Ellesmere comprised a large extent
of territory of very considerable value. It was minutely sur-
veyed on October 28, 1280, and the report of the Commissioners, 5
summarised as follows by Eyton, contains many curious par-
ticulars :

The Lord of the manor held 4 virgates or 324 acres in demesne, worth, at 4^.
per acre, 6 os. 8d. per annum. The fines and amercements of the Borough
Court exceeded 305. There was an Assize on every brewing of beer, realising 2os.
yearly. Two mills, the fisheries of all the Vivaries, except that of Colemere,
and a garden, were items of demesne. The fines, amercements, and heriots of
the [? manorial] Court were 6 135. $d. The gross income from the above and
other similar sources was 28 os. $d. The rents of tenants in burgage amounted
to 3 2s. 6%d. per annum.

Then follows a list of the Liberi Tenentes, with their rents,
services, and holdings. I select the following :

Madoc fitz Ralph held 4 virgates : rent 2s. or a hawk.

David de Otley held 3 virgates : rent 2s. 2d. ; services, to abide 40 days,
during war, in Ellesmere Castle, at the tenant's expense : a heriot of one cuirass
at the tenant's death.

1 Inquis., i Edw. I, No. 37.
8 C.P.R., 1272-1281, p. 125.
6 Forest Roll of Salop, No. 14.

1 C.F.R., i. p. 21.

4 Coll. Top. et Gen., i. 120.

226 LE STRANGE RECORDS

Edenevet de Stokes. Services, suit of court, and his arms as a heriot.

The Lady of Lunyal [now Lineal] held 5| virgates and some assarts. 1 Rent,
2s. ; service to victual the men-at-arms [in the castle]. Heriot, the tenant's
test beast.

Stephen de Fraunketon z held 4 virgates in Ellesdon [now Elson], i bovate in
Wodehouses, and i bovate in Otale. Rent, 22s.

William de Gesnok held half a virgate. Service, to keep the Lord's woods.
Meuric held one-third, and Lewelin Vaghan held two-thirds of the vill of Grenhul
[Greenhillj. Lewelin Vaghan and his brethren held the vill of Astwik [Eastwick].
Gurgenew fitz Madoc, Madoc fitz Yareford, Wyn Vaghan, and Lewelin fitz Wylim
held the vill of Herdewick [Hard wick]. Rent, 6s. Sd.

Adam de Rugge and others held 4 virgates in Rugge [the Ridges]. Service,
a fee [gersuma] of 2s. when any of the tenants' daughters married.

Kenewric fitz Rouhard and other Welshmen held 4 virgates in the vill of
Marton.

The tenants of Horton paid 2s. rent, and were bound to victual the men-at-arms
[in the castle]. The tenants of Leye [Lee] paid a like rent and service. The vill of
Baggel paid 2s. rent.

The abbot of Hawemon held Stockeyth [Stocket], Newton, and Kenewic. Ser-
vices, suit of Court, and to victual the men-at-arms.

Richard fitz Stephen and others held 10 acres of assarts in Birche.

William Smith of Birche held half a virgate. Service, to do the shoeing and
ironwork of teams and mills in the manor, and, in war-time, to abide in the castle,
and forge all necessary implements.

The amount of assarts specified in the Inquest was 195 acres ; but the whole
hundred of Ellesmere contained no less than 536^ acres of assarts. 3

An extent, dated November 4, 1280, of the manor of Welsh
Hampton, which Roger had acquired from his brother Hamon,
shows that the total annual value, including 44 acres of demesne,
was 3 145. 2d.* The land there and in Ellesmere was valued at
4^. an acre, while that at Cheswardine, where there were two
watermills, and 2j vivaries, was reckoned to be worth Sd. an
acre per annum. 5 A moiety of the manor of Child's Ercall pro-
duced 5 6s. $d. a year.

During the last years of Henry III the shrievalty of the county
and custody of the castle of York had been conferred on Roger
le Strange to hold during pleasure ; he was confirmed in these

1 ' Assarts ' were clearings in the forest ready for cultivation.

* Probably the man who killed Llewelyn at Orewin Bridge.
8 Eyton, x. 242-244.

* Trans. Shrops. Arch, and Nat. Hist. Soc., xi. (2nd series), p. 260.
5 Ibid. viii. (3rd series), p. 362.

JOHN LE STRANGE (V) 227

offices by Edward I soon after his accession, and was directed
to render his accounts for the issues thereof ; l on December 12,
1272, a writ de intendendo was addressed to the knights, freemen,
&c., of the county of York for Roger le Estraunge, appointed as
Sheriff by the late King during pleasure, to the custody thereof. 2
There seems to have been some questions about the accounts,
since the Fine Rolls of July 12, 1273, contains the following entry :
The King wills that Roger le Straunge, to whom he committed
of late the county and castle of York, which Henry III committed
to him at will, answer at the Exchequer therefor as John de
Oketon and William de Latymer, sometime Sheriffs of the county,
answered. 8 On October 18, 1274, Roger was relieved of the
custody of the castle and county of York, and was directed
to deliver them to Alexander de Kirketon. 4 The Hundred Rolls
of the 4th Edward I (1275-6) contain an inquest taken at York,
at which the jury found that the servants of Roger in York Castle
had done damage to the King in timber, tiles, stone, fisheries, &c.,
to the value of 40. 5 Repayment for this damage was not ex-
acted, as we find that on August I, 1279, the Sheriffs of Yorkshire,
Lincolnshire, and Bedfordshire were ordered to respite demand
upon Roger le Estraunge for debts due to the King, no doubt in
consideration of his services during the war. 6 He was also given
an acquittance on November 21, 1275, for 20, surplusage of
his accounts when he was Sheriff of York. 7

Some trouble had arisen in the year 1273 concerning the
possession of Chartley Castle, in Staffordshire. On May 6 a
mandate was issued in the name of the absent King to Roger le
Strange to deliver the custody of that castle to Richard de
Clifford, the King's escheator, so that no contention may arise
among the magnates until further order from the King. 3 Appa-
rently Roger did not at once comply with this order, as a further
mandate was issued on June 27, directing Edmund, Earl of
Lancaster, the King's brother, to take the castle into the King's

1 Rot. Orig. in Cur. Scacc. (Rolls series), i. 200. * C.P.R., 1272-1281, p. 2.

8 C.F.R., 1272-1307, i. 8. * Ibid. i. 31.

6 Rot. Hundr. temp. Hen. Ill and Edw. I, i. i2oa.

6 C. Cl. R., 1272-1279, p. 536. 7 Ibid. p. 257.

8 C.P.R., 1272-1281, p. 9.

Q 2

228 LE STRANGE RECORDS

hands, and, if necessary, the Sheriff was to employ the posse of
the county to obtain possession. 1 That he did somehow obtain
possession is evidenced by an order of October 30, 1276, by which
the King's clerk was directed to deliver to Roger the tools, iron
fittings of military engines, crossbows, quarrells, armour, &c., in
the castle of Chartley, when Roger handed it over at the King's
command. 2

An original letter is preserved in the Record Office, dated
April 8, 1272, which shows that the custody of the Castle of the
Peak, Derbyshire, had been conferred on Roger le Strange by
Henry III ; it is an order from the Archbishop of York, Roger
de Mortimer, and Robert Burnell, acting as Commissioners of
Prince Edward, directing le Strange to pay over the revenues of
the Peak for the current term to the Lady Constance ' quondam
consors domini Henrici de Alemania,' 3 to whom they have been
granted. This lady was the widow of the Infante Alphonso,
son and heir of Jayme I, King of Arragon ; she was the eldest
daughter and co-heir of Gaston de Moncada, Vicomte de Beam,
who married Henry at Windsor on May 15, 1269.* A mandate
of April 10, 1272, directs Roger le Strange to deliver the castle
and bailiwick of the Peak to Walter de Kancia, to whom the
attorneys of Edward the King's son have committed it ; this
was accompanied by a writ de intendendo to the tenants. 5 It
must be remembered that this order was issued only a few months
before the King's death, when Henry was in his dotage and Edward
in Palestine ; the grant was probably beyond the powers of the
prince's attorneys, and it certainly was not acted on, as later
entries in the Patent Rolls, quoted below, show that Roger con-
tinued to exercise the office of custodian of the Peak for several
years after the accession of Edward I. A further mandate two
years later directs Roger le Strange, keeper of the castle and land
of the Peak, to deliver to Constance 100 of rent in the Peak, long
since assigned to her as dower. 6 The Close Rolls contain several

1 C. Cl. R., 1272-1279, p. 17. J Ibid. p. 316.

3 Royal Letters, P.R.O., No. 2493. Extended in printed vol. of Royal Letters, ii.

346. * Complete Peerage, 2nd ed., iii. 432.

6 C.P.R., 1266-1272, p. 642. 8 C.P.R., 1272-1281, p. 49.

JOHN LE STRANGE (V) 229

entries concerning Roger's office at the Peak. On September 10,
1275, he was ordered to cause all venison in the King's larder at
Tideswell to be delivered to the keeper of the King's larder at
Westminster. On the following day the Justice of Chester was
directed to permit Roger to take two stags in the forest of Wirhal
to be salted for the King's use and sent to Westminster ; and on
the same day the Sheriff of Lancaster was enjoined to assist Roger
in taking ten harts in the Chace of Liverpool, and to send them
salted to Westminster. On September 12, Roger was commanded
to permit Queen Eleanor to have a deer-leap (sanatorium) in
the valley of Eyedale. 1

Roger le Strange' s wife was Maud, widow of Roger de Mowbray,
and daughter and co-heir of William de Beauchamp, of Bedford.
Her first husband, Roger de Mowbray, of the Isle of Axholme,
Lincolnshire, was one of the most considerable barons of the north,
his father, William, having been one of the twenty-five barons
appointed to enforce Magna Charta. Roger de Mowbray died
I266-7, 2 after her re-marriage with , le Strange ; Maud must
have died in 1274, as an order was issued to the escheator on
December 29 of that year to take into the King's hands the lands
which Roger le Strange and Maud his wife, deceased, held in
dower of the lands late of Roger de Mowbray, tenant-in-chief,
late her husband. 3 On September 12 of the following year (1275)
the said escheator was directed to deliver to Roger le Strange
the wardship of all the lands which Maud, late the wife of the said
Roger, sometime the wife of Roger de Mowbray, held in dower
of the inheritance of the said Roger de Mowbray, to hold from
the morrow of Michaelmas next until the full age of the heirs of
the said Roger de Mowbray, saving to the King knight's fees and
advowsons, and all corn, stock, and other goods in the said lands,
and rents from the said Michaelmas, and the issues of the said lands
until the said morrow of Michaelmas, for which the escheator is
to answer ; so that the said Roger le Strange render 200 marks
a year therefor. 4

The Hundred Rolls mention several lands and tenements in

1 C. Cl. R., 1272-1279, p. 210. * Complete Peerage, v. 410.

* C.F.R., 1272-1307, i. 38. * Ibid. i. 52.

230 LE STRANGE RECORDS

Bedfordshire, held by Roger le Strange by the courtesy of England
in right of his late wife, of the inheritance of her father William
de Beauchamp. At an inquest, taken in the 4th of Edward I
(1275-6), the jury say that Roger holds in chief the vill of Scot-
field, belonging to the barony of Bedford, and has tithe and assize
of bread and beer. 1 In Midelton he held a knight's fee of the
barony of Beauchamp, paying to the King los. hidage and 55. for
suit and ward. 2 In the hundred of Wylye he held, in right of
his wife, a certain tenement by scutage for half a hide. 3 His
services in the first Welsh war of 1276 were requited by a grant,
made by the King on November 18 of that year, by which he
pardoned to Roger 100 marks yearly of the 200 marks which
he was bound to render for the custody of the lands that his late
wife Maud held in dower of the lands that belonged to her first
husband, Roger de Mowbray, during the minority of his heir. 4
Roger le Strange had a further grant, on November n, 1278, when
the King ordered Roger de Mowbray to permit him to make profit
of pannage 5 in the woods lately in his hands by reason of the
wardship of de Mowbray's inheritance. 6

On the outbreak of the insurrection in Wales Roger le Strange,
from his knowledge of the country, was likely to be of more use
to the King's service on the Welsh March than in Derbyshire ;
he 1 was accordingly directed, on November 10, 1275, to transfer
to Thomas de Norman vill the castle, manor, and forest of the Peak,
with the receipts thereof from the previous Michaelmas. 7 Perhaps
in order to square his accounts on this transfer he was reduced
to the necessity of borrowing money, as we find, from an entry
in the Close Rolls of November 10, 1275, that he acknowledged
to owe to Nutus and Burgesius, merchants of Florence, the sum
of 142 is. 8d*

Of the prominent part played by Roger in all three of the
Welsh wars during the next ten years full details have already
been given, and there is little else to record of him during that

1 Hundred Rolls, temp. Hen. Ill and Edw. I, i. 26. 3 Ibid. i. 46.

8 Ibid. ii. 3240. 4 C. Cl. R., 1272-1279, p. 319.

8 The right of feeding swine. 8 C. Cl. R., 1272-1279, p. 483.

7 C.F.R., 1272-1307, i. 56. C.F.R., 1272-1307, i. 56.

JOHN LE STRANGE (V) 231

period of strenuous fighting. Through his brother Hamon, who
had ejected the Welsh possessors, Roger had acquired a precarious
title to the manor of Kinnerley in Shropshire. Letters patent
were issued on November 13, 1277, ordering an inquisition to be
made as to Roger's seisin therein. It was held at Salop on De-
cember i ; the jurors found that Hamon had ejected the Welsh
intruders, and had held the manor since 1264 ; that Roger derived
his title from his brother, and not from any feoffment of Madoc,
formerly lord of the manor. The jurors, however, added that
William de Audeley had a better title, as his father had been
enfeoffed therein by Thomas ap Madoc, son of the original
possessor. 1

The interval, 1278 to 1281, between the first and second Welsh
wars was a period of comparative quiet for Roger. On June 23,

1278, the Justice of the Forest beyond Trent was directed to
cause him to have four bucks in the forest of Galtres of the King's
gift, 2 but apparently there was some difficulty in getting them,
as the entry is marked 'vacated because otherwise below* Three
months later the Justicie of Chester was told to cause Roger to
have four bucks of the King's gift. 3 Among those who had
quittance of the common summons of the eyre, on January 20,

1279, in the county of York, we find the name of Roger le Strange. 4
On April 20 Peter de Montfort, from whom Roger had bought
the manors of Colemere and Hampton five years previously,
acknowledged that he owed the latter 150 marks ; the entry is
noted ' cancelled on payment.' 5 The custody of the castle of Oswestry
was given on April 20 to Isabella de Mortimer for a year from
Easter at a rent to the abbot of Vale Royal of 200, and for
as long as she was willing to give 200 ; Roger was ordered to
deliver it to her with the armour therein by chirograph. 6 The
Justice of Chester had a mandate on August 4 to cause Roger
to have in the forest of Delamere four bucks of the King's gift. 7

John Peckham, Archbishop of Canterbury, during his tenure
of office (1272 to 1292) was engaged in several attempts to magnify

1 P.R.O. Misc. Chanc. Inquis., File 35 (3). * C. Cl. R., 1272-1279, p. 465.

8 Ibid. p. 477. Ibid. p. 554. * Ibid. p. 559.

* C.P.R., 1272-1281, p. 309. 7 C. Cl. R., 1272-1279, p. 536-

232 LE STRANGE RECORDS

ecclesiastical authority at the expense of the temporal power,
and was suspected of mischievous designs by the King, who
issued a notification on January 5, 1280, to him and other prelates
who had been convoked at London, that Roger le Strange and
Hugh fitz Otto, steward of the household, ' were sent to make
appeals on the King's behalf that in the said convocation they
presume nothing against the King's Crown or dignity, and to com-
mand them not to hold their council touching anything pertaining
to the Crown as they love their baronies, and to exhort them to
make a fitting subvention to the King.' 1 The result of the arch-
bishop's policy was that Parliament promptly supported the
supremacy of the royal authority, and passed the Statute of
Mortmain, by which all lands given in future into the ' dead
hand ' of the Church without the King's special licence were
forfeited.

The Close Rolls for 1280 contain an enrolment of an agreement
between Sir Roger le Strange, knight, and Guy le Blunt, clerk,
whereby the latter demised to Roger for life his houses in Wode
Street, in the parish of St. Peter's, London, excepting shops facing
that street, and 205. of yearly rent in the street of Goderonelan[e],
with provision that sufficient chambers shall remain to Guy and
his wife and children for their residence ; Roger to do repairs and
build at his own cost. For this demise Roger released to Guy all
his right in the said houses by grant of Henry III. 2 Another
entry in the same Rolls, under date of November 26, 1280, shows
that the manor and fishery of Shotwick pertaining to the fishery
of Chester was in the hands of Roger le Strange. 3 The Exchequer
Calendars for 1282-3 record that Roger received the sum of 10
sterling by precept from the Keeper of the Wardrobe. 4

During the early part of 1283 Roger le Strange appears to
have been in Ireland, as a receipt from him exists at the Record
Office, dated at Tewein [Tuam] on May 2 of that year, for twenty
casks of wine, the gift of the King, and four casks, the gift of the
Queen. 6

1 C.P.R., 1272-1281, p. 359. C. Cl. R., 1279-1288, p. 44.

3 Ibid. p. 70. * Kalendars of the Exchequer, i. 76, No. 6.

8 C.A.D., iii. 322, c. 3045, Ireland.

JOHN LE STRANGE (V) 233

After the defeat and death of Llewelyn the great services
which had been rendered by Roger le Strange were rewarded
by his appointment by Edward to the important and lucrative
office of Justice of the Forest south of the Trent in succession to
Luke de Tany, who had been slain in the previous November at
the disastrous defeat at Bangor. The patent, issued on October 21,
1283, commits the office to Roger during pleasure, ' so that the
bailiffs and ministers, and others whom he shall charge with the
issues and other things belonging to the King answer to the King,
and so that he bring his Rolls to the Exchequer at the end of each
year.' 1 For the discharge of the multifarious duties of the office
he received an annual salary of 100, with numerous fees and per-
quisites in addition. 2 The following entries in the Rolls of the next
few years will give some idea of the varied duties and emoluments
attached to and accruing from the office, as well as the wide extent
of his jurisdiction. In 1285-6 he was ordered to sell wood within
the bounds of the forest of Rockingham on the view of Richard
de Holebrok. 3 On November 15 he had a writ of summons for
the eyre for pleas of the forest in Norfolk before himself and
others. 4 On March 5, 1284, he was ordered to cause the Bishop
of Lincoln to have in the forest of Rutland six live bucks and
fourteen live does ; 5 on the i8th of that month to cause John de
Grey to have twelve oaks at Haule and Salcey ; 6 to allow Grimbald
Pauncefot to have in the forest of Dean twelve oaks of the King's
gift ; * on May 10, 1284, he was allowed himself to have an oak
yearly in the hay [enclosure] of Welynton, and his men to have
estover [an allowance] of dead wood. 8 By mandate of May 13,
1285, he was commanded not to molest Edmund Earl of Cornwall,
to whom the King has granted leave to pass through the forest to
hunt and take certain stags within their chaces. 9 He had a com-
mission on June 4, 1284, to hold a court of Oyer and Terminer
touching those who hunted and carried away deer, and felled
and carried away trees in the park of Eleanor, late wife of Robert

1 Pat. Roll, of ii Edw. I, 101, m. 5. * Liberate Rolls, 542-5, p. 506, No. 5.

8 Rot. Orig. in Cur. Scacc., i. 516. * C. Cl. R., 1279-1288, p. 379.

5 Ibid. p. 257. * Ibid. p. 259. 7 Ibid. p. 260.

8 Ibid. p. 266. 9 C.P.R., 1281-1292, p. 161.

234 LE STRANGE RECORDS

de Ferrers, at Chartley, Salop. 1 Mandate was issued to Roger,
dated April 7, 1290, to permit Ela, Countess of Warwick, the
King's kinswoman, to have one cartload of firewood daily in the
forest of Wychwood from old oaks : z an order on March 27, 1286,
to cause trenches to be made in the common passages [passibus] of
the forest of Chet, and the underwood to be cut down and sold,
pursuant to the statute provided herein for the preservation of
the peace, and safety of travellers through the King's forests and
woods. 3 A similar order as to passages in the forest of Rocking-
ham. 4 Roger was directed on January 28, 1289, to cause Queen
Eleanor to have in the forest of Selewode twenty oaks, to make
palings to enclose her park at Camel, of the King's gift. 5 He had
an order on March 2, 1291, to permit John Luvel to fell underwood
of his wood within the forest of Wychwood, and to enclose it with
a small ditch and low hedge, so that the King's deer may go in and
out of it. 6 On September 18 of the same year he had a mandate
to permit the abbess of Romseye and her tenants, within and
without the bridge of Bradebrugg, to be acquitted of the lawing
[expeditatio] of their dogs. 7 After holding an inquisition ad
Quod Damnum, Roger was bidden, on April 20, 1284, to permit the
abbot of Shrewsbury to enclose ten acres at Astleye, by Bridg-
north. 8 In fact, the Patent, Close, and Fine Rolls of this decade
are crowded with instructions sent to Roger le Strange as Justice of
the Forests with respect to gifts from the King, of timber, under-
wood, bucks, and deer ; as to trespasses of venison, and other
encroachments, in places as far apart as Sarum, Essex, Devon,
Southampton, Windsor, Winchester, and Rutland ; he was ap-
pointed at different times a Justice in Eyre to hold pleas of the
forest at Derby, Buckingham, Oakham, Chelmsford, Huntingdon,
and Northampton. A very considerable part of his time must
have been occupied in riding all over the Midlands and the southern
counties in performance of these various duties ; small wonder

1 C.P.R., 1281-1292, p. 208. Ibid. p. 349.

C.F.R., 1272-1307, i. 225. * Ibid. i. 227.

6 C. Cl. R., 1288-1296, p. 3. Ibid. p. 163.

7 Ibid. p. 178. This was the cruel obligation on tenants within the royal forests
to cut out the ball of their dog's feet. 8 C.P.R., 1281-1292, p. 119.

JOHN LE STRANGE (V) 235

that, on one occasion of a petition for the redress of some griev-
ance, King Edward directed his justices then sitting at Shrews-
bury to inquire into the matter, ' seeing that Roger le Strange,
Justice of the Forests beyond Trent, had no leisure to do so.' *
It is worth pointing out that ' cis and ultra Trentam ' were merely
terms relative to the King's abode at the date of the issue of a
writ, and in the last-mentioned instance show that the writ was
issued in the north.

In addition to the grant of this lucrative office, and of the
extensive manor of Ellesmere, Roger received several smaller
favours from the King. On the conditions of the Dictum de Kenil-
worth he had held the lands of William de Byrmyngham, a
rebel killed at the battle of Evesham. 2 He had a gift from the
King on July 22, 1284, of the houses and rents late of Guy le Clerke
in London, which came into the King's hands by the forfeiture of
the said Guy, to be held by the services due to the King and
other lords of the fee. 3 The King, on May 9, 1284, ratified grants
for life made by Roger le Strange to his retainers out of the manor
of Ellesmere of small portions of land forfeited by Welsh rebels,
and enlarged the same into fee simple. 4

In spite of these grants and enfeoffments Roger was unable
to meet the expenses of his position without again having recourse
to loans, as to which the Close Rolls contain several entries. We
find him, on May 27, 1280, acknowledging a debt of 10 marks to
John de Aqua, 5 with Roger de Clifford and Henry de Erdington
as his sureties. 6 In the next year he acknowledged that he owed
to Guncelin de Badlesmere forty marks, to be levied in default on
his Shropshire lands. 7 In 1825 he borrowed 60 from Bonrencinus
Gwalterii and his fellows, merchants of Lucca. 8

The Roll of fees held of the King in chief which were assessed for
Feudal Aids in different counties during the years 1284 to 1286,
mentions the following as being held by Roger per legem Anglie,

Placita de Juratis, 20 Edw. I, m. 27, dors. ; Eyton, iii. 216.

Abbrev. Placit., Ric. I-Edw. II, p. 2o8a. 8 C. Ch. R., 1257-1300, ii. 276.

C.P.R., 1281-1292, p. 120. 5 Acqua, near Ferrara.

C. Cl. R., 1279-1288, p. 51. 7 Ibid. p. 123.

Ibid. p. 379.

236 LE STRANGE RECORDS

in right of his late wife : Ryarsh in Kent for half a knight's fee,
rendering 305. to Rochester Castle, suit to the hundred, and 35. 4^.
to the Sheriff ; * in Bedfordshire one knight's fee in Middleton,
of the heirs of Beauchamp ; 2 another in Hatteleye ; 3 half a hide
of land in Stockton, of the Barony of Bedford ; 4 in Great Hole-
welle a moiety of three parts of a knight's fee ; 5 in Goldington
half a knight's fee of the barony of Bedford. 6 The same Rolls
mention that he held in his own right the manors of Ercalewe and
Cheswardine in Shropshire of John le Strange. 7

Dean Hook, in his ' Lives of the Archbishops of Canterbury,'
says : 8

The King suspected Peckham of un-English designs to such an extent, that,
when that Primate on the 30th April 1286, assisted by three Prelates and some
doctors, met only to consider some erroneous propositions concerning the body of
Our Lord after His death, the King sent Roger L'Estrange and Hugh Fitz Otto to
watch their proceedings.

These were the same emissaries who had been employed by
Edward six years earlier to check the manoeuvres of the arch-
bishop. 9

A precept, tested at Westminster on February 16, 1288,
directed Roger le Strange to give credence to William de Henley,
prior of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, concerning the
matters which he was commissioned to declare. 10 King Edward
was at this time in Gascony, and had left his cousin Edmund,
Earl of Cornwall, as regent ; the latter, on October 13, summoned
a council to meet at Westminster, and among the barons to whom
writs were directed we find the name of Roger le Strange. 11

The Patent Rolls of January 15, 1290, contain a confirmation
of a grant in fee simple by Roger le Strange to William de Farndon,
citizen and goldsmith of London, of certain houses and rents there
formerly granted to the said Roger by the King when they escheated
on the forfeiture of Guy le Clerk ; 12 we have seen that this grant

I Feudal Aids, 1284-1431, vol. iii. 2 Ibid. i. i. 8 Ibid. i. 3.

4 Ibid. i. 5. 6 Ibid. i. 5. * Ibid. i. 6. 7 Ibid. iv. 220, 222.

8 iii. 345. Supra, p. 231. 10 Parl. Writs, i. p. 1288.

II Parl. Writs, i. ; C. Cl. R., 1279-1288, p. 519. " C.P.R., 1281-1292, p. 336.

JOHN LE STRANGE (V) 237

was made in 1284. l Roger was one of the witnesses to a quit-claim,
enrolled at Westminster on May 15, 1290, from John, son of
Griffith ap Gwenwynwyn to his eldest brother Owen of all his
father's lands in England and Wales. 2 A commission of Oyer and
Terminer was held on June 10 of that year, touching the lands
which Roger le Strange, late Bailiff of Builth, took into the King's
hands on account of the discord between the heirs of Owen, son
of Meuricus. 3

King Edward, while engaged in Gascony in 1287 in arbitrating
between the French and Arragonese on account of Sicily, was seized
with severe illness which induced him again to assume the Cross.
On his recovery Pope Nicholas IV granted to him in 1288 the
tenth of the revenues of all ecclesiastical property in England,
Scotland, and Ireland to enable him to carry out the crusade
which he had promised to undertake. The assessment of the value
of this property, known as the Taxation of Pope Nicholas, was
not completed until 1291, the year of the fall of Acre, and the last
remnant of the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem on the mainland of
Syria ; this did not, however, prevent Edward from collecting
the money assigned for the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre,
and he made use of it for his war against France. The Rev.
William Hudson has made a carefully tabulated collation of this
assessment with a similar one made in 1254, known as the Norwich
Taxation, as far as relates to the diocese of Norwich. 4 An extract
from this, given below, shows the differences in value at those two
dates of Church property in the parishes comprised in the Hun-
stanton estate.

During the summer of 1291 King Edward obtained from the
three competitors to the Scottish throne Balliol, Bruce, and
Hastings the admission of his claim as lord paramount to hear and
determine the right of succession ; the minor competitors, and
many other Scots barons, followed the example of the three chief
claimants ; but the Pope had also a claim to feudal superiority
over that kingdom, so Edward sent envoys to Rome to obtain
from Nicholas IV a confirmation of the recognition which had

1 Supra, p. 235. Rot. Wall., 14-23 Edw. I, m. 7, dors.

* C.P.R., 1281-1292, p. 401. Norf. Arch., xvii. 46-157.

238

LE STRANGE RECORDS

been made by the competitors that the Scottish Crown was depen-
dant on that of England. The envoys chosen for this purpose by
Edward were John of St. John and Roger le Strange. Letters of
protection were issued on September 19, 1291, until a fortnight after
Easter, to Roger le Estraunge, going beyond seas on the King's

Parish

Norwich Taxa-
tion of 1254

Taxation of
Pope Nicholas
of 1291

s. d.

Snettisham ......

16 o o

26 13 4

Vicaria ......

500

Heacham .......

16 o o

22 13 4

Vicaria ......

400

568

Ringstead Parva .....

400

Great, St. Peter's

13 6 8

14 13 4

,, ,, St. Andrew's

IO O O

8 13 4

Hunstanton ......

16 o o

18 o o

Vicaria ......

4 14 3

6 13 4

Portio Prioris Sci Wynewaloci

o 13 4

Portio Prioris de Sporle

I IO O

Holme, cum Vicaria .....

22 13 4

40 o o

Portio abbatis de Rameseye .

o 13 4

Portio Prioris de Sporle

200

Portio Radulphi de Berry

i 6 8

Sedgeford, Personatus .....

20 O O

30 o o

Total

131 4 3

180 10 o

affairs by command of the King, and to Henry de Urtiaco, his
knight, going with him ; 1 from the Italian name of the latter it
looks as if he were taken out as interpreter. Similar letters were
issued on September 24 to Robert Body, going with Roger beyond
seas till midsummer ; z on October 26 to Lewis de la Pole, going
to the Court of Rome as King's messenger for one year ; 3 and, on
December 17, to Philip de Say, clerk of Roger le Strange, going
with him beyond seas. 4 Apparently, therefore, the envoys did not

1 C.P.R., 1281-1292, p. 445.
* Ibid. p. 443.

Ibid. p. 446.

3 Ibid. p. 447.

JOHN LE STRANGE (V) 239

start until Christmas-time. They arrived in Rome and presented
their letters of credence in February 1292, as is shown by the
following letter addressed by the Pope to King Edward on Feb-
ruary 12 :

John de St. John and Roger called Lestrange, knights, the King's Envoys,
have presented their letters of credence. It is not fitting that great and grave
matters should be treated in letters of credence, nevertheless the Pope has
received them and the Envoys with paternal affection, and is glad to hear that
the King's zeal and fervour about the Holy Land are not less than before. With
regard to the tenth of those realms whose rulers have not gone personally to the
Holy Land, for which the King asks, any residue shall be disposed as he desires ;
from France none has come to hand, nor from Castile, Pope Gregory having
granted it to King Alfonso ; from Almain and the north very little has come ;
expenses are great, but whatever can be produced shall be sent. With regard
to the remainder of the tenth from England, the Pope is ready to hand over to
the King the residue agreed on between him and the Church, but reminds him that
it is assigned to him on condition of his setting out for the Holy Land, and the
compact must be carried out. 1

It will be noticed that there is not a word in the above letter
about Scotland, and it is evident that both King and Pope were
desirous of discussing and settling other and more weighty matters,
besides the succession to the Scottish throne. This is confirmed
by another letter written by Nicholas IV to Edward a few days
later (on February 18) : he complains that Papal Letters relating
to ecclesiastical affairs are not allowed to be presented in England ;
his own letters of complaint have received no answer, though the
King's envoys, John de St. John and Roger called ' Lestrange,'
have declared that the King is at peace with the prelates and
clergy of his realm. The Pope calls on the King to give an answer
to each particular. 2 Lingard says, with respect to confirming
the recognition by the competitors that the Scotch Crown was
dependant on that of England, that the pontiff , having consulted his
cardinals, gave a civil but positive refusal, as such approval might
injure ' that right which the Roman Church itself possessed in the
kingdom of Scotland.' 3 This refusal, if given, was certainly not
persisted in, and it is evident that St. John and le Strange's

1 C. Pap. L., 1198-1304, i. 555. Ibid. i. 556.

8 Lingard's Hist, of England ii. 264.

240 LE STRANGE RECORDS

diplomacy was successful, as on March i, 1292, the Pope wrote
to King Edward that he granted the petition of the envoys,
praying him to confirm the submission made to him by certain
persons who assert their right in Scotland. 1 Roger must have
stayed some time longer in Rome, as on April 18 a further letter
of protection was issued for him until Michaelmas, staying beyond
seas on the King's service. 2 He was home by August, as on the
i8th of that month he and two others were appointed Justices in
Eyre of the forests in Essex for this turn. 3 That he was busily
employed during the winter of 1292-3 is shown by his being
granted a quittance of the common summons of the eyre for
Salop on August 10, 1292,* and again on February 19, I293. 5
The following entry in a chronicle shows that he was sitting at
Chelmsford to hold the pleas of the forest for the whole winter
from Michaelmas 1292 until Lent 1293 :

A.D. 1292. Rogerus Extraneus, Capitaneus Justiciarius foreste citra Trentam,
et socii sui, videlicet Symon de Elesworth et Johannes de Crokesle, incepemnt
placita foreste apud Chelmesforde in quindena Sancti Michaelis, et sederunt
usque primam ebdomadam quadragesime. 6

During his absence abroad some busybody on behalf of the
Crown contested his right to certain franchises in his manor of
Cheswardine, and he was summoned to show how he claimed to
hold pleas of the Crown, and to have waifs there. 7 He called his
nephew, John (V) of Knockin, to warranty, who appeared coram
Rege in Easter term 1293, and produced the charter of Henry II,
granting Cheswardine ' cum pertinenciis ' to - his ' antecessor '
Hamo, whose heir he was. 8 John argued that the scope of the
word ' pertinenciis ' must be determined by the immemorial
usage of his ancestors. The King's attorney replied that view of
frankpledge, wayf, and infangthef, being integrals of the Crown,
could not be conveyed in any but special terms. 9 Eyton says
that he finds many adjournments but no decision on the point. 10

1 C. Pap. L., 1198-1304, i. 557. s C.P.R., 1281-1292, p. 485.

3 Ibid. p. 506. * C. Cl. R., 1288-1296, p. 271.

8 Ibid. p. 311. ' Flores Historiarum (Rolls series), iii. 85.
7 Plac. de Quo Warr., Edw. I-III, p. 7206. 8 Supra, p. 25.

9 Plea Rolls coram Rege, 21 Edw. I, 36 dors. 10 x. 33.

JOHN LE STRANGE (V) 241

The name of Stephen de Frankton, Roger's retainer who had
killed Llewelyn, turns up again in 1293. It has been mentioned l
that in 1275 Roger had obtained for him a pardon for his abjura-
tion of the realm ; either the validity of this pardon had been
called in question, or else Stephen had got into fresh trouble, as
on May 10, 1293, the Patent Rolls record a pardon, granted at
the instance of Edmund, the King's brother, to Roger le Strange,
who was charged before the Justices in Eyre in the county of
Suffolk with harbouring Stephen de Frankton, a felon, who had
abjured the realm of Henry III. 2

During the years 1293-5 the Rolls show that Roger was busily
engaged as Justice of the Forest south of Trent. On June 4,
1293, he held an inquisition in Essex ; 3 on the Sunday after
Michaelmas 1293 we find him holding an inquisition ad Quod
Dampnum as to a grant to Hugh le Despenser of 30 acres in
the forest of Bradenham. 4 On November 15 following he sat
on a commission of Oyer and Terminer, on a complaint by William
de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, that certain persons had hunted
deer and felled oaks and other great vert in his free chace of Sutton,
in the counties of Warwick and Stafford. 5 A pardon was granted
on August i, 1294, to Walter le Hunte, in Colchester gaol, who
had been condemned to three years' imprisonment before Roger
le Strange and his fellows, Justices in Eyre in the forest of Essex,
for trespass in taking bucks and does in the park of Hugh, son of
John de Nevill, of the residue of the sentence, on condition that
he serve in Gascony. 6

Roger le Strange was summoned on June 24, 1295, to the
Parliament which was to meet at Westminster on August I,
and again to that at Westminster on November 13, which was
prorogued to the 27th of that month. 7 He was regularly sum-
moned as a baron to Parliament after that date, and therefore
was later regarded as the first of his family who became a baron
by writ.

1 Supra, p. 197. * C.P.R., 1292-1301, p. 13.

8 Ibid. p. 19. . Chanc. Inq. A Q.D., Edw. I, File 19 (8).

8 C.P.R., 1292-1301, p. 42. 6 Ibid. p. 82.

7 Parl. Writs, edited by Sir F. Palgrave, i. 29, No. 2.

242 LE STRANGE RECORDS

A significant entry, ordering a gift of venison, appears in the
Close Roll of April 21, 1296 ; it is addressed to Roger le Strange,
Justice of the Forest, or to him who supplies his place, 1 and
looks as if he were unable to discharge the duties of his onerous
office, which however he did not give up until the following year.

Edward I pursued a more liberal policy than his ancestors
had done with regard to the vexatious Forest Laws, by affording
facilities for acquiring enclosures in the royal forests ; on several
occasions we find directions given by him empowering a Justice
to rent, or even to grant portions to private individuals ; for
instance, on April 24, 1296, power was given to Roger le Strange
to arrent, in fee simple or otherwise, to persons willing to take
them, such of the King's wastes in divers forests, as, by the assize
of the forest, belong to him to arrent, and to sell underwood,
dead and dry wood, accounting therefor to the Exchequer. 2 On
June 30, 1297, licence was accorded to the abbot of Haughmond,
after inquiry ad Quod Dampnum before Roger le Strange, to
enclose twenty acres of wood. 3 On May 31, 1296, Roger le Strange
and Simon de Ellesworth made an arrentation of forty acres in
the forest of Morf, and leased them at zd. per acre. 4

Roger was relieved of the office of Justice of the Forest south
of Trent by a mandate of February 12, 1297, which directed
him to deliver to Hugh le Despenser the rolls, memoranda, and
other things relating to it, as the King has committed that office
to the said Hugh to hold during pleasure. 5 On July 7 of the
same year Roger was returned among those holding lands, &c., in
the county of Salop of the yearly value of 20 or more, and as
such summoned under the general writ to perform military service
in person in parts beyond seas, to muster at London on July 7,
1297. 6 There is no evidence that he served on any foreign cam-
paign this year : the King had a quarrel with the Earls of Norfolk
and Hereford, whom he requested to lead a force in Gascony,
whilst he went to Flanders, but they maintained that they were
not bound to go abroad except in attendance on him.

1 C. Cl. R., 1288-1296, p. 479. 2 C.P.R., 1292-1301, p. 187.

3 Ibid. p. 257. * Eyton, iii. 217.

C.F.R., 1272-1307, i. 382. 6 Parl. Writs, i. 291, No. 19.

JOHN LE STRANGE (V) 243

In the following year Roger was incapacitated by sickness ;
the King issued letters patent on May n, 1298, nominating
John de Gostwyk and Roger le Loreng for two years on account
of his illness. 1 On June 3 an order was made to respite until
Michaelmas next any demand on Roger le Strange for the issues
of his lands forfeited before any Justice of the King, as the King
has pardoned them to him ; z this no doubt had reference to
his accounts as Justice of the Forest, for the satisfaction of
which his own lands were liable. This order was followed by
another a year later, viz. on June 19, 1299, directing that, in
the debts due from him to the Exchequer, he was to be allowed
the arrears of his fee for the time when he was Justice on this
side Trent ; 3 that he was still high in favour with the King
is witnessed by a mandate of August i, 1299, to Hugh le
Despenser, his successor, as Justice of the Forest, to cause
Roger to have in the forest of Whichwood eight bucks of the
King's gift. 4

When King Edward invaded Scotland in the summer of 1300
Roger le Strange was not, like his nephew John (V) of Knockin,
present at the siege of Caerlaverock ; he was probably kept away
by illness. Humphrey de Bohun, as Constable of England, issued
a Roll containing proffers of service made at the muster at Carlisle
on the Eve of St. John the Baptist, and among these we find that
Roger proffered, in respect of his Bedfordshire property, the
service of one knight's fee, to be done by Simon Germeyn and
Thomas Arnald, and the service of half a knight's fee, to be
rendered by Stephen Crevequer s 5 It has already been mentioned 6
that Roger, as Lord of Ellesmere, was one of the three le Stranges
who sealed the barons' letter to the Pope on February 12, 1301 ;
and although this is not conclusive as to his presence at Lincoln,
since messengers were sent all over England to obtain the seals
thereto of absent barons, it is not improbable that he was
sufficiently recovered from his illness to attend in person the
Parliament held at Lincoln during that month, since the Close

1 C.P.R., 1292-1301, p. 350. C. Cl. R., 1296-1302, p. 165.

3 Ibid. p. 254. * Ibid. p. 263.

* Doc. Hist. Scot., ed. by Sir F. Palgrave, i. 224, 226. 8 Supra, p. 211.

R 2

244 LE STRANGE RECORDS

Rolls of February 24 contain the following entry, dated from
Lincoln, and addressed to the Treasurer of the Exchequer ; it
recites that it has been shown to the King, by petition of Roger
le Strange, that whereas the King some time ago granted to
Roger for his good service 100 yearly of land for life, and that
there was assigned to him the King's manor of Hitchin, co. Hert-
ford, which is extended at 62 yearly only, and that the Treasurer
and Barons of the Exchequer have not yet assigned to him the
remaining 38, at which the King marvels ; he orders them to
cause what is lacking of the aforesaid 100 yearly of land to be
assigned to Robert [sic] from other lands in the King's hands
without delay. 1

Roger lived for about ten years after the date of the above,
but his fighting days were over, and there is little to record of
his doings during those years. The Feudal Aids for 1302-3
mention the following lands as held by him in the county of
Bedford : the thirtieth part of a knight's fee of his demesne at
Caysho of the barony of Bedford ; he, with four others, held in
demesne in the vill of Bromham the fourth part of a knight's
fee of the King in capite ; the manor of Stotfold in demesne, of
his portion of the barony of Bedford, to the third part of which
he was assessed [de/endit se] for one knight's fee : Haynes, Ronhale,
and Ravensden with Salvo : and the third part of the barony of
Bedford in Ronhale and elsewhere for one knight's fee. 2 On
February 2, 1302, Roger had letters from the King, by reason of
his sickness, nominating John de Stamford and William de Stronge-
ford his attorneys for two years. 3 In 1303 he sends the service
of one knight's fee in Bedford and Bucks, for which Bartholomew
de Badlesmere obtains a writ of exoneration. 4 He obtained a
charter from the King on July 24, 1304, for holding a weekly
market at Cheswardine on Mondays, and also a yearly fair there
of three days' duration, viz. the eve, the day, and the morrow of
the Translation of St. Swythin (July 14, 15, and 16) ; 5 on which
Eyton remarks that it is a good instance of the theory that fairs

1 C. Cl. R., 1296-1302, iv. 432. * Feudal Aids, 1284-1431, i. 12, 14, 16.

* C.P.R., 1301-1307, p. 13. * Parl. Writs (Palgrave), ii. div. 1471, 3.

8 Col. Rot. Chart, and Inq. a.Q.D., 1350.

JOHN LE STRANGE (V) 245

and wakes were usually sought to be held on the anniversary of
the patron saint of the Church. 1

A royal grant of April 6, 1306, sets forth that, in consideration
of the long service and great expenses of Roger le Strange in the
King's service, the executors of his will shall not be impeded after
his death by reason of his debts to the King, or of any account for
the time that he was the King's minister, from having sufficient
of his goods to bury the body of the said Roger, and from perform-
ing his obsequies in a fitting manner. 2 On November 10, 1306, a
grant was made to John de Britannia, the King's nephew, 8 of
[inter alia] the reversion of the manor of Hitchin, after the death
of Roger le Strange, who holds it of the King for life. 4 A grant
for life is recorded in the Patent Rolls of June 18, 1307, to Matilda,
wife of Roger le Strange, in case she survive her husband, of 10
a year from the farm of the town of Bedford by the hands of the
bailiffs, as the said Roger only holds lands for life and holds none
in fee whereof she might have dower. Who this Matilda was does
not anywhere appear ; his first wife, Maud de Beauchamp, died,
as we have seen, 5 in 1274, and these very Bedfordshire lands were
held by Roger, in right of her, by the courtesy of England. 1
find no mention as to the parentage of this second wife : that he
left a son and a daughter, whom Eyton supposes to have been
illegitimate, we shall see later. 6

Edward I died on July 7, 1307, and under the new King a
grant was made, on June 18, 1308, to Robert de Kendale and
Margaret his wife for their lives of the reversion of the manor of
Hiche, 7 upon the death of Robert [sic] le Strange, tenant for life. 8
On July 14 this grant for life was enlarged into a grant to them
and the heirs male of their bodies, on the death of Roger ; 9 and
on October 4 Roger was ordered to attorn to Robert de Kendale
and his wife, to whom the King had granted the reversion of the
manor. 10 An entry on the Plea Rolls for the 2nd of Edward II,

1 Eyton, x. 33, n. * C.P.R., 1301-1307, p. 422.

8 John de Bretagne, Earl of Richmond, born 1266 ; son of John (II) Duke of
Brittany, by Beatrix, second daughter of King Henry III.
4 C.P.R., 1301-1307, p. 471. Supra, p. 229.

Eyton, x. 222. ' Hiche = Hitchin.

8 C.P.R., 1307-1313, p. 79. * Ibid. p. 133. w Ibid. p. 139.

246 LE STRANGE RECORDS

' cor am domino rege et consilio suo,' sets forth that Roger was
impleaded for divers extortions made by him in Derbyshire while
he was bailiff of the Honour of the Peak ; J but there is nothing
to show whether the matter was followed up. The reversion of
the manor of Ellesmere was given by Edward II on April 30,

1309, to Queen Isabella, to hold at pleasure. 2 An entry of June 5,

1310, states that Roger le Strange who is in bad health has letters
nominating John de Staunford and Richard de Hawems his
attorneys for two years. 3

The King's writ of Diem clausit extremum, ordering the es-
cheator to hold his inquest on the death of Roger le Strange, was
issued in error on July 26, 1311, five days before he actually
died ; the first inquisition was held at Leighton Buzzard, in Buck-
inghamshire, but is not dated ; the jury found that Roger held
no land in that county of his own, but held certain lands per legem
Anglie de Hereditate Matilde de Mountbray, his wife, and certain
lands for life by the demise of Roger de Mountbray, and that
John de Mountbray, son and heir of Roger de Moubray, is
nearest heir of Matilda de Moubray, and is of the age of twenty-
two years and more. A further inquisition was held at Bedford
on August 19 concerning the castle of Bedford, and lands held
by Roger in right of his wife ; it ends up :

Et dicunt quod Rogerus Extraneus xxvj die Julii, quo die Rex per breve
suum supposuit ipsum esse defunctum, superestes fuit, et quod obiit ultimo die
Julii. 4

The same inquest gives the following list of lands held by
Roger ' de hereditate Matilde uxoris sue ' :

Linchelade tenementa ibidem 1
Bedeforde castrum J

Situs castri de Bedeforde
Hawnes cum maneriis de

Wylynton et Scottefeld extentis
Bromhum tenementa ibidem
Bereford tenementa ibidem
Wutton tenementa ibidem

.Bedford.

1 Abbrev. Placit., Ric. I to Edw. II, p. i8ya. 2 Ibid - P- J 5 6 -

3 Ibid. p. 229. * Chanc. Inq., 5 Edw. II, File 27 (2) ; old reference No. 67.

JOHN LE STRANGE (V) 247

That Roger le Strange did marry a second wife, also of the
name of Matilda, is conclusively proved by three entries in the
Close Rolls. The bailiffs of Bedford were ordered, on December 18,
1311, to pay out of their farm 10 yearly to Matilda, late wife of
Roger le Strange, which the late King had granted her because her
husband did not hold any lands in fee whereof she could be
maintained according to the requirements of her estate in case she
survived the said Roger. 1 On October i, 1312, the Treasurer and
Barons of the Exchequer had an order to allow the bailiffs of
Bedford in their farm 10, which the King ordered them on
August 28 last to pay to Matilda, late the wife of Roger le Strange,
which the late King granted that she should receive after the
death of her husband from the farm of that town ; z and, on
April 3, 1313, a similar order was issued to the bailiffs to pay her
yearly 10 from July 31, 1311, the date of her husband's death. 3
Further orders, enjoining payment of arrears to Matilda, were
issued in 1314, 1315, 1318, 1331, and 1332.* She was still alive
in 1337, as on February 9 of that year a receipt of hers appears
in the Close Rolls. 5

Roger le Strange appears to have left two children, John and
Lucia, whom Eyton supposes to have been illegitimate. 6 John is
mentioned as the son of Roger in the Inq. p.m. of William de
Ercalewe, who died in 1304,' where it is stated that the deceased
held 6os. rent at Parva Soutley under John son of Roger le Strange. 8
John was enfeoffed by his father in Cheswardine, and is entered as
lord thereof in the Nomina Villamm of 1316. John of Cheswardine,
by licence dated March 1, 1315, was empowered to enfeoff Fulk le
Strange of Blackmere in the manor of Cheswardine, held in chief,
and for the latter to devise the manor to the feoffer for his life,
with remainder to Hamon, son of Fulk, and his heirs, by fine of
io. 9 Eyton points out that John thereby disinherited his own
sister Lucia, and that the fine whereby this was effected was levied

1 C. Cl. R., 1307-1313, p. 389. Ibid. p. 479- 3 Ibid. p. 523.

C. Cl. R., 1313-1318, pp. 47, 142, 541 ; C. Cl. R., 1330-1333, pp. 218, 445.
5 C. Cl. R., 1337-1339, p. 380. Eyton, x. 222.

7 Inq. p.m., 32 Edw. I, No. 21. Eyton, ix. 89.

C.P.R., 1313-1317, p. 255.

248 LE STRANGE RECORDS

by royal warrant on November 12, 1315 ; 1 also that this explains
how, in the inquisition taken on October 22, 1330, on the death
s.p. of John le Strange of Cheswardine, it was found that he died
seized of nothing in demesne. The manor, of which an extent
is given, is said to include a ruined castle, held for his life of the
King in chief by service of half a knight's fee, of the grant of Fulk
le Strange, made by the King's licence, and by fine levied in the
King's Court, with remainder in fee to Hamon, son of the said
Fulk. John de Leybourn, son of Lucy, sister of the said John,
aged thirty, is his next heir. Simon de Leybourn, husband of
Lucia, died in 1309. 2 I have no evidence to show who was the
mother of John and Lucia ; it is of course possible that they may
have been the issue of Roger's second wife Matilda, but it is difficult
to believe that they were legitimate, since no inquest gives John
as the heir of Roger, and the latter would scarcely have been
content to hold his fiefs for the term of his life only if he had an
heir to succeed him in his lands and barony. John of Cheswardine
was never summoned as a baron to Parliament, and no claim to
the peerage created by his father's summons has ever been made.
He died in 1330, when his heir was found to be his nephew, John
de Leybourn. 3 Courthope says of him :

Lucy, his sister, married, firstly, Guy de St. Armand, and secondly, Simon de
Leyburne, by whom she was mother of John de Leyburne, cousin and heir of the
said John le Strange ; he died s.p., leaving Catharine his sister and heiress, wife of
Geoffrey de Lucy, father of Geoffrey, father of Reginald, father of Sir Walter de
Lucy, who left two daughters and co-heirs, Eleanor wife of Thomas Hopton,
and Matilda wife of William Vaux (grandfather of Nicholas Vaux, Lord Vaux of
Harrowden), among whose descendants this Barony [Strange of Ellesmere] is
still in abeyance. 4

For fifty years, distinguished both in field and council, Roger
le Strange had carried to a still higher degree the honourable
traditions of his House. We have seen him loyal to his liege lord
all through the Wars of the Barons, rewarded by the grant of
Ellesmere, the shrievalty of Yorkshire, and the custody of the

1 Rot. Orig. -in Cur. Scacc., 8 Edw. II, i. 2126.

2 Inq p.m., 2 Edw. II, No. 24. 3 Inq. p.m., 4 Edw. Ill, No. 18.
4 Complete Peerage (ist ed)., vii. 268%.

JOHN LE STRANGE (V) 249

Castle of the Peak ; moved thence on account of his familiarity
with the Welsh March to a position of leadership during the Welsh
wars, to the successful termination of which his defeat of Llewelyn
greatly contributed ; then for fourteen years strenuously em-
ployed in the administration of the Forest Laws as Justice south
of Trent ; adding greatly to his territorial possessions by his
marriage with the widow of Roger de Moubray and heiress of
William de Beauchamp ; despatched as envoy to Rome to con-
duct important negotiations with the Pope ; summoned to Parlia-
ment as lord of Ellesmere, and crowning his career by joining
in the famous letter in which the barons of England, speaking in
the name of the commonalty of the realm, upheld the independ-
ence of the Crown for all time from subservience to papal claims
of feudal superiority over this country. His closing years were
clouded by illness, which incapacitated him from serving in the
Scotch wars of Edward I ; but that monarch was not forgetful
of his old servant, and requited his long and faithful services by
further grants, as well as by securing a provision for his widow,
which was punctually carried out by Edward's successor on the
throne.

JOHN LE STRANGE OF ERCALL, OR ERCALEWE.

A John le Strange of Ercalewe, distinct from John of Cheswar-
dine, and from John of Knockin, appears between the years 1305
and 1309, but I have not come across any evidence to show
whether he was related to either of the others. He was returned as
a knight of the shire for Salop, under the designation of ' Johannes
le Estraunge de Ercalewe' to the Parliament meeting at Westminster
on February 16, I305, 1 to that of May 30, 1306 ; z and obtained
his writ de Expensis for attendance at the last-mentioned Parlia-
ment on the same day. 3 In 1307 he was again returned for Salop
to the Parliament of October 13 at Northampton, 4 and also to
that meeting at Westminster on April 27, I3O9. 5 On August 26
of that year he was appointed one of the assessors and collectors

1 Return oj M.P.'s, i. 19. Ibid. p. 22. 3 Parl. Writs, i. 178.

4 Return oj M.P.'s, i. 28. * Ibid. p. 31.

250 LE STRANGE RECORDS

for Salop of the twenty-fifth granted in the last Parliament for
the war with Scotland ; l and, on December 18, was one of the
three Justices named to receive and hear complaints. 2 The
manuscripts of the Corporation of Shrewsbury comprise two deeds
of his : the first, a grant from Johannes Extraneus, lord of
Ercalewe, and Matilda his wife, to Sir Philip de Say, rector of
Hodenet, of one virgate in Harpecote, which he had from Sir
William le Botiler, of Wem ; the first witnesses are Sir Fulk le
Strange, and Sir William le Botiler ; the second deed, dated
October 14, 1309, is a grant from John Lestraunge of Erca-
lewe to Sir Thomas Corbet and Robert his son of the manors
of Morton Toret, Hemme, Hynton, &c. 3

LE STRANGE OF FRANSHAM.

In dealing with this branch of the family in a former chapter, 4
I brought down their pedigree to an Alexander le Strange who
occurred c. 1260, and in 1275 and 1299, and mentioned that more
of the family would appear again at a later period. The Feudal
Aids for the year 1302 record that Ralph le Mareschal holds the
fourth part of a knight's fee in Rougham and Fransham of Roger
le Strange and his parceners, and the same Roger of John of Gates-
den, and he of Earl Warenne, who held of the King. 6 On May 28,
1312, Roger le Strange of Little Fransham granted to Adam
Siger of Shipdham five acres of arable land in the fields of Little
Fransham. 6 In 1315 Roger le Strange appears as a witness to
a deed, dated at Fransham, which will be mentioned below ;
and in 1324 he was returned by the Sheriff of Norfolk as summoned
by general proclamation to attend the Great Council at West-
minster on May 30.' He was deceased in 1428, as the Feudal

1 C.P.R., 1307-1313, p. 185. z Ibid. p. 251.

3 Hist. MSS. Comm. Report on the MSS. of Shrewsbury and Coventry Corporations,

PP- 72, 73-

* Supra, pp. 94-97. s Feudal Aids, 1284-1431, iii. 416.

6 B.M. Add. MSS. 23067. MS. Index to vol. i. of Original Charters to illustrate
Blomefield, in Dawson Turner's printed Cat., fo. *g , 14669.

7 Parl. Writs, ii. fo. 1834.

JOHN LE STRANGE (V) 251

Aids for that year say that Ralph le Mareschal held the fourth
part of a knight's fee in Rougham and Fransham of the heirs of
Roger le Strange. 1

We have seen that in 1242 John le Strange, son of Roger le
Strange of Fransham, held land in Little Snoring. 2 A deed in
the Muniment Room at Hunstanton, dated July 20, 1299, is wit-
nessed by ' Johnle Strange de pua Naringg 9 ' (Snoring), and mentions
the meadow of John le Strange at that place. 3 Another Hunstan-
ton charter, undated, and therefore presumably earlier, whereby
Robert, son of Stephen of Snoring, grants for 2os. to ' Philippo, filio
domini Radulphi le Strange' a piece of land which he may sell to
anyone except to a house of religion, and is witnessed by Johanne
le Strange and Willelmo le Strange ; 4 probably these are members
of the Litcham branch of the family.

In the inquest on the death of Robert de Toni, held at Necton
on January 5, 1310, the first name among the jurors is ' Henrici
le Estraunge' 5 Carthew cites a charter of April 21, 1315, granting
2j acres of land in Little Fransham to Henry le Strange and Joan
his wife of Little Fransham, which charter is witnessed by Roger
le Strange. 6 Henry le Strange is also certified by writ as one of
the lords of the township of Fransham Parva in 1316 ; 7 and again
as such in the Feudal Aids of the same year. 8 He occurs as early
as December 14, 1292, as witness to an agreement, preserved at
Hunstanton, as to some lands in Lexham and Gressenhall, between
Jordan ffolyot and John, son of Robert, of Little Palgrave ; 9
and at about the same date his name occurs in another Hunstanton
deed, an undated grant of homage from John Crowe to Jordan
ffolyot ; 10 the latter died in 1299.

The above particulars simply supply the names of three le
Stranges connected with Fransham viz. Roger, wno occurs from
1302 to 1324, and Henry, with his wife Joan, who occur from 1292
to 1316, but the documents cited do not establish any connection

1 Feuded Aids, iii. 595. z Supra, p. 95; 3 I N.K. 26.

N.K. 19. I 5 Inq. p. m., 3 Edw. II, No. 33.

6 Carthew, iii. 184. 7 Parl. Writs, ii. Div. 3, 1470.

8 Feudal Aids, 1284-1431, iii. 454. 9 I N.A. 37. | 10 | N.A. 27. I

252 LE STRANGE RECORDS

between these three individuals and Alexander, the last name
in the pedigree already given. 1

MATILDA LE STRANGE, WIFE OF RICHARD DE LEIGHTON.

The ' Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Natural
History Society ' 2 contain some notes on deeds belonging to
Leighton near Buildwas, which establish some connection between
the le Stranges and the family of de Leighton which is not men-
tioned by Eyton when dealing with that place. A deed, dated
in I299, 3 mentions that Roger le Strange the uncle, and Roger
his nephew, lived at Leighton. Who were these ? Roger of
Ellesmere was alive then, but, as far as I know, had no uncle
or nephew named Roger. An undated grant is cited, whereby
Richard, lord of Leighton, gives four messuages in that place
to Richard, his son by Matilda le Estrange.

Inasmuch as five Richards de Leighton succeeded one another
between 1165 and 1315, it is not easy, as Eyton remarks, 4 ' to
mark the points of interval in this succession.' A deed quoted
by Eyton as passed c. 1200 by the second Richard de Leighton,
is attested by Hamon le Strange, probably Hamon of Wrock-
wardine, second son of John le Strange (I) of Knockin. By a
third undated deed 5 Sir Richard Leighton grants to Richard his
son and Mathilde le Strange his mother, and the heirs male of the
said Richard, a messuage and lands in Leighton which Roger,
brother to Matilde aforesaid once held. It remains to be dis-
covered who Matilda and her brother Roger were.

THOMAS STRAUNGE, occ. 1302.

The Patent Rolls of Edward I contain a pardon granted on
February 17, 1302, at Roxburgh to William de Hothum for the
death of Thomas Straunge, and of his outlawry for the same. 6

1 Supra, p. 96. z ix. 398. s No. 27 (102).

* vii. 327. 6 No. 25 (74). 6 C.P.R., 1301-1307, p. 20.

JOHN LE STRANGE (V) 253

ROGER, SON OF JOHN LE STRANGE, occ. 1305.

A pardon was granted on September 21, 1305, to William, son
of Ralph de Goldyngton, in Bedford gaol, for the death of Roger,
son of John le Straunge, as it appears by the record of the Justices
appointed to hear and determine felonies there, that he killed
him in self-defence. 1

Some entries relating to Hunstanton occur in the Hundred
Rolls for Norfolk, temp. Edward I. In the year 1273-4 William
de Plumstede extorted [extorsif] from the town of Hunstanton
5 marks, and in the following year 8 marks. From William Note
he extorted 2s., and by the authority of his office he caused to
be imprisoned the son of Roger Cloychs for theft. 2 A further
entry states that William de Blumvill, sub-escheator, after the
death of John le Strange [probably John (IV) who died in 1274]
took into the King's hand the manor of Hunstanton, although it
was not held in capite, and a horse worth twenty shillings ; and
Robert de Perers took of him from the manor on the same occasion
to the value of nine shillings. 3

1 C.P.R., 1301-1307, p. 378. * Rot. Hundr. temp. Hen. Ill and Edw. I, i. 4656.
8 Ibid. i. 5236.

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CHAPTER VII

JOHN LE STRANGE (vi) OF KNOCKIN,

AND
HAMON LE STRANGE (l) OF HUNSTANTON

1309-1317

THE Shropshire inquisition on the death of John le Strange
(V), taken on September 20, 1309, states that his son and heir,
John, was then aged twenty-seven, and was born on May 18,
1282. 1 He only survived his father for about eighteen months,
but that short period sufficed for him to execute the important
series of documents, the evidences of which will be set out in
extenso, by virtue of which the Hunstanton estate was vested
in his younger brother Hamon, who, on his part, counter-claimed
Knockin to John.

It has been mentioned z that during his father's lifetime
John, son of John le Strange, was employed on the King's service
in the Scotch wars ; it was perhaps this which obliged him to
borrow 205. on December 12, 1308, from Adam de Osgodby, a
prominent Chancery clerk under Edward II, which sum was to
be levied in default on his lands in the county of Stafford. 3 John,
the father, had been ordered a few days before his death to raise a
hundred foot-soldiers from Knockin for service against the Scots ; 4
Edward II had other matters requiring his attention, so a truce

1 C. Edw. II, File 16 (6). z Supra, p. 212.

C. Cl. R., 1307-1313, p. 134. Supra, p. 220.

255

256 LE STRANGE RECORDS

was patched up with Scotland, and, on September n, the custodian
of the lands of John le Strange of Knockin was notified that the
hundred men would not be wanted. 1

The escheator had been directed on September 8, 1309, to
take into the King's hands the lands late of John le Strange of
Knockin, deceased, tenant-in-chief ; 2 a month later, on October
6, the same official was ordered to deliver the said lands to John,
son and heir of John le Strange, he having done homage ; saving
to Maud, late the wife of John, her dower. 3

Before the death of his father John (VI) had married a lady
of the name of Isolda or Yseult, but who she was has not been
recorded, though she was of sufficient importance to have been
enfeoffed jointly with her husband in Knockin and other estates.
Their first act after succeeding to them was the settlement of
the Shropshire and Norfolk properties. Eyton says in a note : 4

It seems from various documents (still in the possession of H. L. Styleman le
Strange, Esq., of Hunstanton) that Hamo le Strange had some title to the Manor
and Castle of Knokyn, and that he accepted Hunstanton in lieu thereof. The
settlements connected with this exchange commence on September 6, 1309, and
were completed by a Fine in Easter Term 1310. Knokyn was settled by Hamo le
Strange on his brother John and on Isolda, John's wife, and the heirs of their
bodies, with remainder to the right heirs of John. Hunstanston was settled by
John and Isolda on Hamo and the heirs of his body, to be held under John and
Isolda by a rose-rent, with remainder to John and Isolda and their heirs.

Eyton can hardly have seen these documents, as the third
of them, the grant by Hamon of December 8, 1309, supplies the
explanation of his interest in Knockin. The solution is a very
simple one. John (V) was anxious to make good provision for
his younger son Hamon ; the eldest, John, was to have Knockin
and the other Shropshire properties ; so his father executed a
Statute Merchant Bond (Statutum) under the royal seal, whereby
he covenanted to pay a thousand marks to Hamon, or to his heirs
and executors, the said bond being deposited for safe custody with
the prior of Wenlock. 5 On the father's death, which occurred

1 Rot. Scot., i. 740 ; Parl. Writs, ii. Div. 3, 1470.

z C.F.R., 1307-1319, ii. 49. a Ibid. p. 50. 4 x. 279.

B Hunstn Evidence Room ] A. 4. |

JOHN LE STRANGE AND HAMON LE STRANGE 257

about July 1309, John (VI) succeeded to this obligation, the
principal security for which was the Knockin property ; and as
it was not convenient for him to pay up so large a sum to his
brother, Hamon agreed to accept Hunstanton from his brother
in full satisfaction for the debt, and on that manor being con-
veyed to him, to give John a release from any further claim on
the Knockin property.

The four documents by which this transaction was carried
into effect have fortunately survived, and are in the Muniment
Room at Hunstanton ; they are of sufficient interest to be well
worth giving here in extenso. The first in point of time is an
agreement between the two brothers, dated at Shrewsbury on
September 6, 1309 ; this must have passed a very few weeks after
the death of their father : John undertakes to enfeoff Hamon
and the heirs of his body in the manor of Hunstanton before
Christmas next ; and if Hamon should die without leaving heirs
of his body, that the said manor shall revert to John and Isolda,
and the heirs of their bodies ; Hamon on his side undertook in
the same form to enfeoff his brother John and Isolda his wife
and the heirs of their bodies in the castle and manor of Knockin ;
if John and Isolda should leave no heirs of their bodies, then the
said castle and manor shall revert to the right heir of John : for
further security to John, his brother Hamon has delivered a bond
for a thousand marks, made in his favour by his father John, to the
custody of Henry, Prior of Wenlock, to be kept by him until the
full completion of the present agreement ; on completion whereof
the said bond shall have no further value or effect, and shall be
immediately handed over by the prior to John. The first witnesses
to this deed were the prior of Wenlock, the lord Fulk le Strange
(of Blackmere), John le Strange, lord of Ercalewe, and William
of Ludlow.

The deed itself runs as follows :

Die Sabbati proxima ante festum Nativitatis beate Marie Virginis Anno regni
Regis Edwardi filii Regis Edwardi tertio apud Salopiam. Ita convenitur inter
dominum Johannem, filium domini Johannis quondam domini de Knokyn ex
parte una : Et dominum Hamonem, fratrem predicti domini Johannis filii
domini Johannis ex parte altera : Videlicet quod predictus dominus

258 LE STRANGE RECORDS

Johannes fideliter promisit et corporal! juramento se astrinsit, ante festum
Nativitatis Domini proxime futurum feoffare predictum dominum Hamonem
de manerio de Hunstanstone in Comitatu Norfolciensi. Tenendum et Hab-
endum sibi et heredibus suis de corpore suo procreatis. Et si contingat
predictum dominum Hamonem sine herede de corpore suo procreate in fata
decedere, tune predictum manerium cum omnibus suis pertinentiis predicto
domino Johanni et Isolde uxori sue et heredibus de iisdem procreatis libere et
integre revertatur. Et predictus dominus Hamo in eadem forma, et ante pre-
dictam diem Natalem Domini feoffabit predictum dominum Johannem fratrem
suum, et Isoldam uxorem eius et heredibus [sic] de corporibus suis procreatis de
castro et manerio de Knokyn cum omnibus suis pertinentiis. Et si contingat
predictos dominum Johannem et Isoldam uxorem eius sine herede de corporibus
suis procreato in fata decedere, tune predictum castrum et manerium cum
omnibus suis pertinentiis heredi predicti domini Johannis libere et integre rever-
tantur. Et ut securius predicto domino Johanni de predictis conventionibus
caveatur, predictus dominus Hamo Unum Statutum continens mille marcas quod
dominus Johannes Lestraunge, pater dicti Hamonis sibi fecerat tradidit fratri
Henrico, Priori de Wenlok custodiendum quousque predicte conventiones plenarie
compleantur : quibus completis concedit idem Hamo quod ex tune predictum
Statum nullam vim habeat nee virtutem, set statim per predictum Henricum
Priorem predicto domino Johanni fratri suo tradatur. Et ad istas conventiones
fideliter tenendas predicte partes sigilla sua alternatim presentibus apposuerunt.
Hiis testibus ffratri Henrico Priore de Wenlok, Domino ffulcone Extraneo,
Johanne Extraneo domino de Ercalewe, Ricardo de Harele, Willelmo de Lode-
lowe, militibus ; Reginaldo de Charnes, Galfrido Randulfo, Willelmo Hord,
Griffino de Kynenarstone, Thoma Champoneys, Randulfo Pain et aliis. 1

The above agreement between the brothers was duly carried
out. By an indented deed, executed at Knockin on Sunday,
November 30, 1309, John le Strange and Isolda his wife (who was
no doubt joined with him in order to bar any claim on Hunstanton
for her dower) granted to his brother Hamon the whole manor of
Hunstanton, with all its members and appurtenances whatsoever,
and all knight's fees belonging thereto, to be held by him and the
heirs of his body of the capital lords of the fee by the services
belonging thereto : should Hamon die without heirs of his body,
then the said manor shall revert to John and Isolda and the heirs
of their bodies. The grant was attested by Fulk le Strange, John
le Strange of Ercalewe, and several of the Shropshire witnesses
who had attested the previous agreement ; but it is remarkable

1 A. i. I

JOHN LE STRANGE AND HAMON LE STRANGE 259

that it is also attested by seven or eight Norfolk witnesses, Who
must have come all the way from Norfolk to Knockin for the
especial purpose of having cognizance of this important trans-
fer of a Norfolk fief to a younger branch of the house of le
Strange.

The document itself was, as usual, an indenture, and, for those
who are not familiar with the meaning of that term, it may be
well to explain it. A sheet of parchment was taken, a line was
drawn across the centre, and along that line some word, usually
the word CHEIROGRAPH, was written in capital letters ; then, on
each half of the parchment, commencing from the centre, identic
copies of the document, word for word the same, were written ;
their accuracy and identity was established by reading them over
in presence of the two parties and of the witnesses ; the first
party attached their seal or seals to one copy, which was known
as the deed itself, and the second party attached their seal or
seals to the other, which was called the counterpart ; then a
knife was drawn in a wavy or indented line through the word
written across the centre, and of the two documents, thus sepa-
rated, one, bearing the seals of the first party, was handed to the
second party, while the other, bearing the seals of the latter, was
delivered to the first party ; thus, at any time, the authenticity
of either document could be established by bringing it into juxta-
position with the other, and seeing that the teeth of the indenture
fitted into each other accurately. By some curious chance, in
the present instance, both the original deed and its counterpart
have been preserved in the Hunstanton Muniment Room, and the
photograph opposite will show that the lettering, cut through
upwards of six hundred years ago, absolutely fits along the in-
dented line. The seal of John le Strange, bearing the legend,
S' Joms EXTRANEI DE KNOCKIN, is still attached to the original
deed, but that of his wife Isolda is gone, leaving only the strip of
parchment to which it was once attached. On the counterpart,
unfortunately, no seals remain, though slits at the bottom show
that two were originally attached. A photograph of the original
and counterpart, placed in juxtaposition to show the indented
line, is given opposite.

S 2

260 LE STRANGE RECORDS

The following is an extended transcript of this indenture :

Sciant presentes et futuri quod dominus Johannes Extraneus miles, films domini
Johannis Extranei, dominus de Knokyn, et Isolda uxor mea dedimus concessimus
et hac present! carta nostra confirmavimus domino Hamundo Extraneo, fratri
nostro, pro quadam summa pecunie quam nobis dedit premanibus totum manerium
nostrum de Hunstanston in Comitatu Northfolchiensi cum omnibus membris et
pertinentiis suis quibuscunque. Et cum omnibus feoudis militum dicto manerio
pertinentibus sine aliquo retenemento. Habendum et Tenendum de capitalibus
dominis feoudi predicto Hamundo et heredibus suis de corpore suo legitime
procreatis, in feoudo et hereditate inperpetuum, libere, quiete, bene, et in pace
cum omnibus suis pertinentiis et eysiamentis per servicia que ad illud manerium
pertinent. Et si contingat, quod absit, dictum Hamundum infata decedere sine
herede de corpore suo legitime procreato, tune predictum manerium cum omnibus
suis pertinentiis quibuscunque una cum feoudis militum predictis, nobis et heredi-
bus notris de corporibus nostris legitime procreatis redeat et revertatur in per-
petuum. Et preterea Nos predicti Johannes et Isolda uxor mea et heredes nostri
totum predictum manerium de Hunstanston cum omnibus membris et pertinentiis
suis quibuscunque una cum feoudis militum dicto manerio pertinentibus predicto
Hamundo et heredibus suis de corpore suo legitime procreatis pro predicto dono
contra omnes Mortales Warantizabimus et defendemus inperpetuum. In
cujus rei testimonium huic presenti carte sigilla nostra apposuimus. Hiis
testibus : dominis Folcone Lestrange, Johanne Lestrange de Ercalewe, Ricardo
de Harleye, Thoma Corbet, Willelmo de Lodelawe, Johanne Louel, Thoma de
Ingalthrop, Thoma de Snyterton, militibus, domino Thoma de Holm, Willelmo
de Seggeford, Willelmo Cayly, Roberto de la Roche, Georgio de Holme, et aliis
Datum apud Le Knokyn die dominica infesto Sancti Andree apostoli, anno
regni Regis Edwardi filii Regis Edwardi tertio. 1

The next step in this complicated legal process was for Hamon
to enter into a covenant with his brother John for the voidance,
on completion of the conveyance of Hunstanton, of the statute-
merchant bond for a thousand marks, to which obligation John
had succeeded on the death of his father. In addition to this
recognisance John had, subsequently to that event, executed a
similar bond in his own name, but for a thousand pounds instead
of marks i.e. one-third more which document had been deposited
in the custody of his cousin, John le Strange of Ercalewe. In this
last-named bond were joined, with John (VI), Agneta, the widow
of Laurence de Ludlow of Stokesay, and her son William de
Ludlow. Who was this Agneta ? and why were she and her

1 | A. 2 and 3. |

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JOHN LE STRANGE AND HAMON LE STRANGE 261

son parties to the bond ? Laurence de Ludlow had acquired
Stokesay c. 1281 from John de Grey, and was the builder of what
is, perhaps, the best extant example of a fortified manor-house,
now known as Stokesay Castle, close to Craven Arms Station in
Shropshire ; he had obtained a licence to crenellate it in 1290-1,
and died in 1296. His wife, Agnes, is mentioned by Eyton as
complainant, together with her son William, in a fine concerning
some land at Stanton-Lacy, but of what family she was does not
appear. Their son, William de Ludlow, who died in 1316, married
c. 1300, Matilda, daughter and sole heiress of William de Hodnet. 1
I can find no connection between the Ludlows and the le Stranges,
such as would explain the association of the two families in this
bond, and can only surmise that it lay in the personality of
Agnes ; may she, for instance, have been a sister of John and
Hamon le Strange, who, because she was not an heiress, has not
been otherwise mentioned ? Apart from possible family connection ,
neighbourship may account for her intervention, as the castle of
the Whitchurch le Stranges is only a few miles from Stokesay,
higher up Corvedale.

Such being the position of affairs between the two brothers,
Hamon, on December 8, 1309, entered into the subjoined covenant :

Universis ad quos presentes litere pervenerint Hamundus Lestraunge, films
domini Johannis Lestraunge de Knokyn salutem in Domino. Noverit univer-
sitas vestra me, ex mera voluntate mea concessisse domino Johanni Lestraunge
fratri meo et Isolde uxori sue quod, si contingat ipsos me dominum Hamundum
de manerio de Hunstanston cum suis pertinentiis in Comitatu Northfolchiensi
mihi et heredibus meis de corpore meo legitime procreatis citra quindenam post
festum Purificationis beate Virginis Marie proximo future feoffare, et securitatem
inde facere quam Curia Domini Regis in forma supradicta considerare voluerit,
Volo et concedo pro me, heredibus et executoribus meis quod Statutum domini
Regis mille marcarum sub sigillo de recognitione debitorum mercatorum, in quo
statute continetur quod dominus Johannes le Straunge, pater meus, se obligavit
mihi, heredibus et executoribus meis in predictis mille marcis, et quod quidem
Statutum in custodia fratris Henrici, Prioris de Wenlok, remanet. Et etiam quod-
dam aliud statutum sub dicto sigillo de recognitione debitorum mercatorum
in quo continetur quod dictus dominus Johannes le Straunge, frater meus, Agneta
que fuit uxor Laurentii de Lodelawe, et Willelmus de Lodelawe, films eiusdem
Agnete, in mille libras argenti mihi heredibus et executoribus meis obligantur.

1 Eyton, v. 36, 37 ; vii. 58.

262 LE STRANGE RECORDS

Et quod quidem Statutum in custodia domini Johannis Lestraunge de Erkalewe
remanet, vel ubicunque predicta Statuta alibi inveniantur pro nullis habeantur,
seu nullam vim vel effectum extunc optineant, set omnino cassentur frustrentur et
adnullentur, non-obstantibus quibuscunque conventionibus literis seu instru-
mentis quoquo modo inter me dominum Hamundum et predictum dominum
Johannem, fratrem meum, super premissis vel eoram aliquibus penes aliquo
modo confectis. Et si contingat predictos dominum Johannem fratrem meum
et Isoldam uxorem eius, me dictum Hamundum in forma supradicta de dicto
manerio de Hunstanston cum suis pertinentiis citra predictam quindenam dicti
festi Purificationis non feoff arent, volunt et concedunt predict! Johannes et
Isolda quod supradicta Statuta de recognitionibus mercatorum extunc in suo
robore et effectu perseverent, et predictis Hamundo liberentur sine contradic-
tione vel impedimento dictorum domini Johannis et Isolde uxoris sue, Agnete et
Willelmi. In cuius rei testimonium huic presenti scripto indentato, tarn ego
dictus Hamundus ad unam partem, quam dictus dominus Johannes et Isolda
uxor eius ad aliam partem, sigilla nostra apposuimus. Hiis testibus, dominis
Johanne de Sibeton, ffulcone Extraneo, Johanne le Straunge de Erkalewe, Regi-
naldo de Charmes, Willelmo Hord, Grifnno de Kynenerstone, et aliis. Datum
apud le Knokyn die lune in festo Conceptionis beate Marie. Anno regni regis
Edwardi filii Regis Edwardi tertio. 1

[The seals are gone.]

It will be seen from the above document that, if Hamon was
not enfeoffed of Hunstanton by February 16, 1310, the penalties of
the two bonds were recoverable by him. The matter was not
carried through by that date ; it was not completed until May 10
following, but it is not likely that any penalty was exacted for the
law's delay.

The ' Final Concord/ by which the manor of Hunstanton
was actually conveyed by John (VI) of Knockin to his younger
brother Hamon in fee tail for a rose rent, is expressed as follows :

Hec est finalis concordia facta in Curia domini Regis apud Westmonasterium
a die Pasche in tres septimanas anno regni Regis Edwardi filii Regis Edwardi tertio,
Coram Willelmo de Bereford, Lamberto de Trikingham, Henrico de Stanton,
Johanne de Benstede, et Henrico le Scrop, Justiciariis et aliis domini Regis fideli-
bus tune ibi presentibus. Inter Hamonem Extraneum querentem et Johannem
Extraneum de Knokyn et Isoldam uxorem eius deforciatorem, de manerio de
Hunstanston cum pertinentiis, unde placitum conuentionis summonitum fuit
inter eos in eadem curia, scilicet quod predictus Hamo recognovit predictum
manerium cum pertinentiis esse Jus ipsius Johannis ; Et pro hac recognitione,

JOHN LE STRANGE AND HAMON LE STRANGE 263

fine, et concordia iidem Johannes et Isolda concesserunt predicto Hamoni pre-
dictum manerium cum pertinentiis ; Et illud ei reddiderunt in eadem Curia ;
Habendum et Tenendum eidem Hamoni et heredibus de corpore suo procreatis, de
predjctis Johanne et Isolda et heredibus ipsius Johannis in perpetuum. Reddendo
inde per annum unam rosam ad festum Natiuitatis sancti Johannis Baptiste,
pro omni seruicio, consuetudine, et exactione ad predictos Johannem et Isoldam
et heredes ipsius Johannis pertinente ; Et faciendo inde Capitalibus domini feodi
illius pro predictis Johanne et Isolda et heredibus ipsius Johannis omnia alia
seruicia que ad ilium manerium pertinent. Et predjcti Johannes et Isolda et
heredes ipsius Johannes Warantizant eidem Hamoni et heredibus suis predictis
predictum manerium cum pertinentiis per predicta seruicia sicut predictum est
contra omnes homines in perpetuum. Et si contingat quod predictus Hamo
obierit sine herede de corpore suo procreato, tune post decessum ipsius Hamonis
predictum manerium cum pertinentiis integre revertetur ad predictos Johannem
et Isoldam quiete de aliis heredibus ipsius Hamonis Tenendum de capi-
talibus dominis feodi illius per seruicia que ad illud manerium pertinent in
perpetuum. 1

A second copy of this Fine exists among the muniments at
Hunstanton, 2 and the original is preserved among the Feet of
Fines in the Public Record Office. 3 Thus was the Hunstanton
estate finally made over by the lord of Knockin to his younger
brother Hamon, in whose issue it has been vested, and the family
name carried on in lineal descent to our day, long after the elder
line and other branches in Shropshire had died out, or merged
with their honours in other noble families.

Of other matters in which John le Strange (VI) took part
during the few months for which he held the barony of Knockin
but little mention has come down to us. Eyton points out 4 that,
in the transaction with his brother Hamon respecting Hunstanton,
John made use of the instrumentality or trusteeship of his brother
to effect an entail of Knockin on the heirs of himself and his wife
Isolda, and this will account for the finding of the inquest on his
death that he and Isolda had acquired that manor from Hamon.
The same arrangement was also made with regard to Melverley,
part of le Strange's feoffment under fitz Alan. 5

Immediately after his father's death John le Strange (VI) was
summoned, by writ dated at York on October 26, 1309, to attend

1 j A. 5. | 2 1 A. 6. 1 3 Case 162, File 125, No. 136.

4 x. 370. Ibid. x. 378.

264 LE STRANGE RECORDS

the Parliament to be held there on February 8 following. 1 The
place of meeting was altered by another writ of December 12 to
Westminster, in consequence of the refusal of the barons to meet
the King and his favourite, Gaveston, at York. In the autumn
of 1310 Edward invaded Scotland, and John le Strange was
one of the barons summoned to the muster at Berwick on Sep-
tember 8. 2 The King had difficulties in getting the barons to
come, and another writ was directed to le Strange on August 2,
earnestly requesting him to attend the said muster according to
the preceding summons. The Parliamentary writs show that,
in place of going in person to the muster at Tweedmouth on
September 18, he proffered the service of half a knight's fee, per-
formed by one serviens with one barded horse.

In the autumn of 1310, instead of fighting for the King in
Scotland, John le Strange was at Haughmond ; on September 3
he confirmed to that abbey the grants of his progenitors, especially
the churches of Hunstanton, Cheswardine, Knockin, and many
lands ; this was witnessed by Fulk le Strange of Blackmere, and
by the grantor's brother Hamon. 3 On October 10, by another
charter also dated at Haughmond, in which he styles himself
'Johannes Extraneus sextus dominus de Knokyn, 3 he again con-
firmed all grants of his ancestors to the abbey, ' sicut pater meus
ante me fecit,' and especially mentioned the new chapel at Knockin,
together with the soil on which it was built. 4

John le Strange (VI) must have died early in 1311, probably
during the month of January ; the writ of ' Diem clausit extremum '
upon his death is tested at Berwick-upon-Tweed, February 6, 1311 ;
the Cambridgeshire inquisition respecting his property was held
on February 21, and a full extent is given of the manor of Middleton
held by him of the Bishop of Ely in chief, by the service of three
knights' fees, and a pair of gilt spurs, or sixpence, yearly. The
Shropshire inquisition was held on March i, and also gives extents
of the manors that belonged to him ; Ness and Kynton were held
by him in chief, by the service of one knight's fee, and eighteen

1 Parl. Writs, ii. Div. 3, 1470. 2 Writ tested at Westminster, June 18, 1310.

8 Fragm. Registri Monast. de Haghmond, B.M. Harl. MSS. 446 (Aug.) fo. 15.
4 Ibid.

JOHN LE STRANGE AND HAMON LE STRANGE 265

acres of land were held of Meurik de la Benet, lord of Felton Botiler,
rendering 35. yearly. The manor of Knockin, with its members,
including a castle, was held jointly by the said John, with Yseult
his wife, of Thomas de Halgton, by homage only, which manor
they acquired from Hamon le Strange l to be held to them and
the heirs of their bodies. Melverly, part of the original le Strange
fief under fitz Alan, and eventually part of the fee of Knockin,
was held under a separate tenure, namely, of the Earl of Arundel,
at an annual rent of los. ; and Middle was held at a similar rent
of 6s. 8^. of the heirs of John de Burgton. John's heir was found
to be his son John, aged fourteen on October 9, i3io. 2 In addition
to the above he held in Warwickshire the manor of Walton Dey-
ville, and in Gloucestershire a messuage, three virgates of land,
and five acres of meadow at Schevyndon. 3

The escheat or beyond Trent was ordered, on March 30, 1311,
to deliver to Isolda, late the wife of John le Strange of Knockin,
a tenant-in-chief, the manor of Knockin, and the town of Milver-
legh, co. Salop, together with the issues of the same, taken into the
King's hands on the death of the said John, as it appears by in-
quisition that he and Isolda acquired the same jointly from Hamo
Lestraunge, and that the manor is held of Thomas de Halgton
by homage, and the said town from Edmund Earl of Arundel by
service of los. yearly, and that the said John and Isolda held the
same jointly at the time of John's death. Two days later, namely,
on April i, 1311, the same escheator was further directed to assign
to Isolda dower of her late husband's lands in the presence of
John of Knockin, to whom the King had granted the custody of
two parts of the said John Lestraunge' s lands during the minority
of his heir, if the said John de Knockin choose to attend, the said
Isolda having taken oath before the King not to marry again
without his licence. 4 This John de Knockin had already, on
February 24, obtained a grant, in which he is styled the King's
yeoman, of the wardship of the lands late of John le Strange, in
the King's hands by reason of the minority of the heir, to hold
until the full age of the latter, rendering so much as any other

1 Vide supra, p. 263. a Inq. P.M. 3 Edw. II, File 20 ; C.I.P.M. V, No. 264.

3 Cal. Inq. p.m. (1806), i. 2376. * C. Cl. R., 1307-1313, p. 305.

266 LE STRANGE RECORDS

will give, with the marriage of the heir for such a price as any
other will give. 1 The Fine Rolls contain a further entry, dated
November 2, 1311, of a sale for 300 to the King's yeoman Roger
[sic] de Knockin of the wardship of two parts of the manors of
Ness and Kynton, Salop, and Middleton, co. Cambridge, late of
John Lestraunge of Knockin, extended at 39 135. iof-d. a year,
to hold until the full age of the latter's heir, John, and if John die
before his full age, his heir being a minor, until the time when he
would have been of full age, saving, &c., as above, viz. knights'
fees, advowsons, reliefs, &c. 2 An order was issued, on January 23,
1312, to the Treasurer and Barons of the Exchequer to cause en-
rolment to be made, pursuant to the King's grant to his yeoman,
Roger de Knockin, that of the 250 marks wherein he is held to
the King of the 450 marks wherein he made fine for the wardship
of the lands late of John le Strange of Knockin, then in the King's
hands, he pay 10 a year. 3 These entries in the Fine Rolls respect-
ing Roger de Knockin must be a mistake for John de Knockin.
Eyton mentions no such person as Roger : John de Knockin was
lord of Faintree, near Bridgnorth, in March 1316 ; 4 he had a
grant of Ellesmere for life from the Crown on the death of Roger
le Strange in I3ii, 5 and he himself died in 1320-1. 6 Similar
entries concerning these transactions are entered in the Patent
Rolls of August 8 and November 2, 1311,' and a further entry of
January 19, 1313, shows that Roger de Knockin, the King's yeo-
man, received a pardon for the 235 marks in which he was bound
to the King at the Exchequer, for the custody of the lands of
John Lestrange, deceased, which the King committed to him. 8
These lands, as is shown above, had been granted to John, and
not to Roger de Knockin.

Sir Hamon le Strange of Hunstanton was already a knight at
the time of the tournament held at Stepney in May I3O9- 9 His wife
was Margaret Vernon, who in the pedigree in the Hunstanton
Muniment Room, made by Roger 1'Estrange of Hoe in 1686, is

1 C.F.R., 1307-1319, ii. p. 85. z Ibid. p. no. 3 Ibid. p. 123.

4 Nomina Villarum. 5 Pat. Rolls, 12 Edw. II, pars. 2, mem. 9, dors.
6 C.I. P.M., 14 Edw. II, No. 31. 7 C.P.R., 1307-1313, pp. 380, 397.

8 Ibid. p. 520. 9 Supra, p. 220.

JOHN LE STRANGE AND HAMON LE STRANGE 267

stated to be the daughter and co-heiress of Richard Vernon de
Molton, descended from the ancient Lords Vernon of Shipbrooke,
in Cheshire. Edmondson 1 makes her the daughter, but not the
heiress, of Sir Ralph, or, according to others, Sir Robert Vernon
of Mottram, in Cheshire, who married Margaret, daughter of Sir
Urian de St. Pierre. The le Stranges, as a family, sided with the
Earl of Lancaster and the Ordainers in the agitation which resulted,
in 1312, in the death of Ga vest on ; Sir Hamon was one of those
who obtained a special pardon, on October 16, 1313, for having
borne arms as an adherent of the Earl of Lancaster, ' or in any
other manner touching or concerning Peter de Gavaston, or that
which befell him.' 2

The Feudal Aid for 1316, dealing with the Hundred of Smith-
don, states that it was in the hands of Robert de Montalt, and that
Hunstanton was held under him by Hamon le Strange and William
Lovel. 3 Sir Hamon was also certified, pursuant to a writ tested
at Clipston on March 5, 1316, as one of the lords of the township
of Hunstanton. 4 The other lord thereof, William Lovel, held a
knight's fee in Hunstanton, Walpole, and Walton, pertaining
to the castle and honour of Clare. 5 This return of the names of
lords of townships was ordered for the purpose of effecting the
military levies ordained by the Parliament at Lincoln in 1316.

At the request of Roger de Mortimer, of Chirk, a grant was
made on November 27, 1313, to John de Mortimer (probably his
grandson), of that which pertains to the King of the marriage of
Isolda, late the wife of John le Strange of Knockin ; viz. any
fine to be made for that marriage, or forfeiture incurred by her
for marrying without the King's licence, or that of the said John
de Mortimer. 6 There is nothing to show that Isolda ever re-
married after the death of her husband. During the year 1314
she was involved in some legal controversy arising out of her
husband's will ; on May 7 Nicholas Daumary, executor of that
will, appointed attorneys to receive in Chancery the 300 marks
that Thomas, son of John Hastang, and John, son of Robert de

1 Baronagium Genealogicum, v. 493. z C.P.R., 1313-1317, p. 23.

3 Feudal Aids, 1284-1431, iii. 452. * Parl. Writs (Roll Series), ii. 308, No. 4.

5 Cal. Inq. p.m., Edw. II, v. 346, No. 538. C.P.R., 1313-1317, p. 44.

268 LE STRANGE RECORDS

Felton, had acknowledged to him in Chancery in 1309-10 ; J
and on November 18 Hastang and Felton appointed attorneys
' against Nicholas Daumary and other executors of the will
of John le Strange, to wit, Isolda, late the wife of John le
Strange, and William de Lodelowe, in a plea of deceit/ 2 William
de Ludlow has already been mentioned 3 in association with John
le Strange in the bond for 1000 given to his brother Hamon ;
and Thomas de Hastang, who occurs shortly after this time as
lord of Middle, is conjectured by Eyton to have married a le
Strange widow. 4

Isolda's name occurs on August 8, 1316, as being required
to furnish a jury from her lands to determine a complaint as to
the forest of Ellesmere. 5 Shortly after this Margaret, the widow
of Sir Hamon le Strange of Hunstanton, purchased from her
sister-in-law Isolda, for the sum of 510, the wardship and marriage
of Hamon, son and heir of Sir Hamon. The original deed for
this purpose, written in Norman-French, exists in the Muniment
Room at Hunstanton Hall ; 6 it recites that whereas Margaret,
late the wife of Sir Hamon le Strange, lord of Hunstanestown,
has acknowledged in Chancery that she owes Isoude, late the
wife of Sir John le Strange of Knockin, the sum of 510, in order
to have the grant from Isoude of wardship of the lands of Hamon,
a minor, and, if the said heir die whilst a minor during Isoude's
life without issue, for the wardship of the said lands until Edmund
his brother come of age, saving to Isoude the reversion of the
tenements that Margaret holds in dower, in case she die during
the minority of the heirs, as security for payment to Isoude of
30 yearly until the end of seventeen years, the period of nonage
of the heirs, for the wardship. Isoude grants that if Hamon die
leaving issue of his body, wardship of which issue Isoude has
reserved to herself, or if he die under age without issue after
Isoude's death, by reason whereof Margaret may not have the
wardship of the said lands until the end of the seventeen years,
then Margaret shall pay the above yearly sum until Hamon 's

1 C. Cl. R., 1313-1318, p. 100. * Ibid. p. 201. 3 Supra, p. 258.

4 Eyton, x. 68. C.P.R., 1313-1317, p. 558. 6 | A. 7. |

JOHN LE STRANGE AND HAMON LE STRANGE 269

death, and that after his death she shall be acquitted thereof,
and that if Edmund die a minor and heir of Hamon, she shall be
quit in like manner. The deed was dated at London on December
2, 1317, and bears a memorandum that Isoude came into Chancery
on the same day, and acknowledged the above deed. The Close
Rolls of November 28, 1317, contain an enrolment of this deed 1
and an acknowledgment by Isolda's attorney that it was can-
celled on payment of the 510 to him in October 1320.

There is no inquisition in the Record Office on the death of
Sir Hamon of Hunstanton, but the above-cited enrolment in the
Close Rolls proves that he died before the end of November 1317.
His sister-in-law Isolda survived certainly until 1324, as is shown
by writs directed to her as Lady of Knockin, but the necessities
of the war with Scotland rendered it desirable that the command
of the castle should not be vested in a woman. A mandate of
January 16, 1322, directed to all in the castle of Knockin, orders
them to deliver it to Peter Giffard and Morgan Llwyd, 2 and, four
days later, Richard de Leghton was appointed by the King during
pleasure as ' Superior Keeper ' thereof, a writ of aid for him being
directed to ' Isolda de Knokyn, lady of that castle.' 3 She, or
her bailiff, was required on February 14 to raise 50 foot-soldiers
from her lordship of Knockin, and to allow certain commissioners
to act therein ; 4 and she was again required, on April 9, 1322,
to raise fifty footmen to go to Newcastle-on-Tyne. 5 A mandate
of June 10 requests all persons of the land of Knockin to come
properly armed to the King's assistance in the Scotch expedition,
as their laudable assistance when the King was pursuing the
rebels in the marches of Wales makes the King confident that
they will be ready to do so. 6 The last writ directed to Isolda
was dated May 20, 1324, requiring her to furnish from her liberty
a jury to try the case of Griffith de la Pole of Powys. 7

The rolls of the period contain several entries relating to
maritime matters at Hunstanton. A commission of Oyer and
Terminer was issued on November I, 1317, on complaint by

1 C. Cl. R., 1313-1318, p. 582. * C.P.R., 1321-1324, p. 49.

3 Ibid. p. 50. Ibid. p. 74. 8 Ibid. p. 98. Ibid. p. 136.

7 Ibid. p. 452.

270 LE STRANGE RECORDS

Robert de Montalt, touching persons who, on the sea-coast at
Hunstanton, took and carried away his goods out of a ship, which
he by his men had taken from the King's Scotch enemies. 1 The
Sheriff of Norfolk was directed on January 4, 1318, to take into
the King's hands a ship of Flanders and Zeeland lately arrested,
as it is contained in an inquisition, taken by the King's orders, by
Henry Burgeys of Hunstanton and others, that a great part of
the goods are in the said Henry's custody, and the mariners
detained in prison by him. 2 The same Sheriff was directed, on
January 2 6, to bring personally to Westminster the merchants
and mariners of Flanders and elsewhere, lately arrested in a ship
of Sirice [ = Zieriksee in Zeeland} on their voyage from Scotland
at Hunstanton, and to ascertain what goods were in the ship,
their value, into whose hands they came, and if any have been
abstracted. 3 A commission of Oyer and Terminer was issued on
October 2, 1318, on the complaint that Roger, son of Nicholas de
Holme, several men from Holme and Hunstanton, Geoffrey ' the
levediesneve Lestraunge/ and others, assaulted him at Hun-
stanton, and broke his right arm. 4 A similar commission was
issued on December 26, 1318, on the complaint of Robert de
Montalt, that, although he and his ancestors, from time whereof
memory exists not, had wreck of sea in all his lands along the
sea-coast of Norfolk, William de Sedgeford and others took and
carried away divers goods at Wiggenhull, Snettisham, Heacham,
Hunstanton, Thornham, and Titchwell, cast ashore by the sea
upon his soil, which, as wreck of the sea, ought to have pertained
to him. 5 On April 20, 1322, protection for one year was granted
to Robert Spark of Hunstanton, merchant, and his men, going
with a ship to southern parts to buy corn and victuals and convey
the same to York and Newcastle not elsewhere undertaking
not to communicate with Scots or Flemings. 6 A commission of
Oyer and Terminer was issued on May 18, 1322, on the complaint
of Nicholas de Hamburgh, merchant, of Almain, that, whereas he
freighted ' la Welyf are del Brele ' [Brill, in Holland] with divers

1 C.P.R., 1317-1321, p. 91. 2 C. Cl. R., 1313-1318, p. 519.

3 Ibid. p. 521. 4 C.P.R., 1317-1321, p. 284.

5 Ibid. p. 297. Ibid. 1321-1324, p. 109.

JOHN LE STRANGE AND HAMON LE STRANGE 271

wares at ' Grippeswold in Estland ' [ = Greifswald, in Pomerania]
to trade to Kingston-on-Hull, fifty-three or more men (amongst
them William Baret of Hunstanton) boarded the ship near Blake-
ney, carried away his goods, and assaulted him. 1 Edmund Bacon,
John Howard, Robert Banyard, and Robert de Erpingham were
appointed, on August 16, 1326, in the ports and towns of Great
Yarmouth, Little Yarmouth, Blakeney, Lynn, Spalding, Hun-
stanton, Holme, and Snettisham to see that they join John de
Sturney, admiral of the fleet, in the north. 2

EUBULO LE STRANGE.

Concerning Eubulo, ultimately the fourth of his house to be
summoned to Parliament as a baron, Professor Tout has called
my attention to the question as to whether he was the second or
the third son of John le Strange (V) and Maud d'Eiville ; after
careful examination of such information bearing on the point as
exists I have come to the conclusion that he was the youngest
of the three brothers, in spite of the fact that Dugdale 3 says
that Hamon was Eubulo's younger brother, and that Blomefield, 4
probably following Dugdale, also states that Hamon was the
youngest. I have no direct evidence to offer, but the following
points are material.

The eldest brother, John (VI), was born, as we have seen, on
May 18, 1282 ; his father, at some period before his death (which
occurred on October 7, 1309), made a large endowment for his son
Hamon by means of the Statute Merchant Bond for a thousand
marks in his favour ; the date of this bond is not recorded, but
as no mention is therein made of any other son, it seems probable
that it may have been made before the birth of Eubulo, whose
career suggests that he must have been considerably younger
than his brothers. Eubulo was certainly not present at the tourna-
ment at Stepney on May 28, 1309, when both John and Hamon
were present as knights. Further, Eubulo was not a witness to
any of the documents of the family compact concerning the

1 C.P.R., 1321-1324, p. 159. * C.P.R., 1324-1327, p. 311.

* Baronage, i. 668. * x. 316.

272 LE STRANGE RECORDS

feoffment of Hamon in Hunstanton, which were executed during
that and the following year. His name does not appear, as far
as I am aware, before 1313, when ' Eble Lestraunge ' is included
with his brother Hamon, and his cousins Fulk and Robert of
Blackmere, in the pardon, granted on October 16, to the adherents
of the Earl of Lancaster for the death of Ga vest on. 1 I have seen
no further mention of him until May 20, 1322, when he ob-
tained letters of protection for one year, 2 but the purpose thereof
is not stated. In 1326, although apparently not yet a knight,
he was returned by the Sheriff of Salop, pursuant to a writ tested
at Westminster on May 19, in the list of ' homines ad arma ' sum-
moned to attend the Great Council. 3

The Complete Peerage* on the authority of Blore's Rutland
(p. 228), makes Eubulo the son of a second wife of John, ist
Lord Strange of Knockin, viz. daughter and heiress of Eubulus
de Montibus, of Ketton, Co. Rutland, and says that from the
name it seems likely ; but I know of no other authority for
the existence of this second wife.

By his marriage with Alice de Lacy, which must have taken
place at about that period, Eubulo acquired large possessions in
many parts of England. Alice was the only surviving daughter
and heiress of Henry de Lacy, last Earl of Lincoln of his line, and
was therefore, in her own right, Countess of Lincoln, while, in that
of her mother, she was also Countess of Salisbury ; she had been
married at the age of eleven, in 1294, to Thomas Earl of Lancaster,
son of Edmund ' Crouchback,' and grandson of Henry III, the
leader of the barons of England against the favourites of Edward II,
who was captured by the King's forces at Boroughbridge, and
beheaded at Pomfret Castle in 1322. The personal honour of
Alice does not seem to have been above reproach, though a vile
story, chronicled by Thomas of Walsingham, 5 and a contemporary
Westminster monk, Robert of Reading, 6 and quoted by Kennet, 7
to the effect that Alice de Lacy was claimed as his wife in 1317 by

1 C.P.R., 1313-1317, p. 23. z Parl. Writs, ii. Div. 3, 1468. 3 Ibid.

4 ist Ed n , vii. p. 268. 5 Chron. Mon. S. Albani, i. 148.

6 Flores Historiavum (Rolls Series), iii. p. 179.

7 Parochical Antiquities of Ambroseden and Burcestre, i. 539.

JOHN LE STRANGE AND HAMON LE STRANGE 273

an undersized hunchback, named Richard de St. Martin, on the
ground that he had carried her off and married her before she
was betrothed to the Earl of Lancaster, is at all events partly
disproved by the fact of the tender age at which she was married
to the said Earl. The facts seem to be that in 1317 Alice was
' abducted ' by Earl Warenne. Warenne was a man of disreput-
able character, and it is pretty certain that his chief object in
abducting her was to humiliate Thomas of Lancaster. 1 A circum-
stantial account given by another contemporary chronicler, the
' Continuator of Trivet/ Edw. Hall, pp. 20-21, bears testimony to
the fact that Alice did go off with some lover, but I demur to the
suggestion made by Professor Tout in his ' Place of Edward II in
English History/ 2 that that lover was ' a certain lame squire,
Eubulo 1'Estrange.' That Alice should have left an unprincipled
ruffian like Lancaster, to whom she had been married when a
mere child, is small matter for wonder, and perhaps scarcely for
blame, but that Eubulo should be identical with the ' cuidam
armigero claudo,' spoken of by Robert of Reading, is incompatible
with his strenuous and honourable career under Edward III, and
the many trusts and rewards conferred on him by that monarch.
That Alice herself was for a time under a cloud, partly perhaps
from her own misconduct, and still more as the widow of the traitor
Thomas of Lancaster, is more than likely, and that she had to
extricate herself from a weak position by paying hush-money to
the Despencers and to those who wielded the powers of the Crown
towards the end of the reign of Edward II ; but after her marriage
with Eubulo it is evident that she did succeed in reinstating herself
materially, and, let us hope, morally as well.

After the execution of her first husband at Pomfret his own
possessions and honours were forfeited by his attainder, and his
widow, to make her peace with the King, surrendered into his
hands on June 26, 1322, a great part of the lands which she had
inherited from her father, in order to secure the confirmation of
some portion of these possessions to herself. Many of the sur-
rendered lands were granted by Edward II to the Despencers,

1 Chron. de Melsa, ii. 334-5 ; Canon of Bridlington, p. 54 ; Annales Paulini, p. 280.
* P. no.

274

LE STRANGE RECORDS

and on their forfeiture subsequently reverted to the King. 1 On
September 20, 1322, Edward granted the constableship of Lincoln
Castle to Alice as her right and inheritance, 2 and restored to
her for life the annuity of 20 which her father had received in
lieu of the third penny of the county of Lincoln.

The marriage with Eubulo le Strange took place before Novem-
ber 10, 1324, on which day the Sheriff of Lincoln was ordered to
pay to him and ' Alice, daughter and heiress of Henry de Lacy,
late Earl of Lincoln, now his wife, the arrears of 20 yearly for the
third part of the county of Lincoln, and to pay the same here-
after/ 3 It may have taken place as early as the previous Easter,
as certain issues of Lincoln were paid to Alice and Eubulo for
Easter term i8th Edward II. 4 The mandamus as to the annuity
in lieu of the third penny of the county of Lincoln has given colour
to some to call Eubulo Earl of Lincoln jure uxoris, but, as has
been pointed out by Mr. Francis Townsend, in his additions to
Dugdale's Baronage, it is certain that he never really enjoyed that
honour, as we find him regularly summoned to Parliament up
to the date of his death by the name of Ebulo le Strange only,
and ranked among the barons, nor does the inquisition on his
death give him any other title. 5 The date of the writ for his first
summons to Parliament was December 3, I326, 6 the last was on
April i, 1335, and there is proof in the Rolls of Parliament of his
sitting. 7 He was, apparently, not knighted until about a year
after his marriage, viz. in the igth of Edward II (1325-26), when
he was made a Knight of the Bath and received robes as a
Banneret. 8

By a commission tested at Norwich on January 24, 1326,
Eubulo was appointed one of the four supervisors of Array in
the county of Lincoln, with special powers ; 9 and by a further
commission he was directed, on July 23, to assist and counsel
the Earl of Arundel as captain and chief supervisor of the Array
in Lincolnshire. 10 The last mention of him during the reign of

1 C.P.R., 1324-1327, pp. 63, 103.

3 C. Cl. R., 1223-1227, p. 245.

5 Misc. Top. et Gen., vi. 150-1.

7 Complete Peerage, vii. 268.

C.P.R., 1324-1327, p. 220.

z C. Cl. R., 1327-1330, p. 28.
4 Ibid. p. 626.

6 Parl. Writs, ii. Div. 3, 1468.
8 Ibid. vii. 268.
10 Parl. Writs, ii. Div. 3, 1468.

JOHN LE STRANGE AND HAMON LE STRANGE 275

Edward II is on December 9, 1326, when he obtained letters ot
protection for a year. 1

Eubulo and Alice appear to have experienced considerable
difficulties in securing punctual payment of the rents which had
been granted to them out of the castle and county of Lincoln ;
there are repeated orders in the Close Rolls of the next few years
directing the Sheriff to pay to them the arrears, and to continue
the payments punctually. 2 An entry of August 4, 1331, recites
that, whereas the mayor and bailiffs of the city of Lincoln have
hindered Eubulo and Alice since the death of Henry de Lacy from
holding the custody of the castle, with the bailey and court
thereof, the King orders the mayor and bailiffs to permit Eubulo
and Alice to have the said castle and bailey, the meter and
bounds whereof are fully set forth. 3

A few months after the deposition of Edward II, Eubulo
was summoned to be at Newcastle-upon-Tyne on May 18, 1327,
equis et armis, in case of an invasion by Robert Bruce. 4 The
young King, in pursuing the Scots, narrowly escaped capture on
August 4, 1327.

During the early years of the new reign all real power was in
the hands of Queen Isabella and her paramour Mortimer, who,
to consolidate their authority, made restitution of estates and
honours to the partisans of the late Earl of Lancaster. Among
these grants was one made to Eubulo le Strange for life, on
November 28, 1328, of lands and rent of the yearly value of 500
marks, out of the lands which he and Alice his wife hold for the
term of her life only, and which would revert to the Crown at
her death ; he received, accordingly, a grant of the manors of
Colham and Edgware, co. Middlesex, and others in Oxfordshire,
Lincolnshire, and Northampton, with those of Glasebury and
Clifford in Wales. A memorandum is attached stating that
Eubulo, in presence of the council, agreed to surrender the foregoing
letters patent into Chancery, for cancellation, if the prelates and

1 C.P.R., 1324-1327, p. 340.

* C. Cl. R., 1323-1327, p. 462 ; ibid. 1327-1330, pp. 28, 142, 169, 283, 434, &c. ;
ibid. 1330-1333. P- I-

8 Ibid, p 255. Rot. Claus., i Edw. Ill, pt. i., m. 2, dors.

T 2

276 LE STRANGE RECORDS

magnates of the realm did not consent to the premises. 1 At
an inquisition held shortly before this, viz. on August 27, 1328,
the jury found that twenty-four solidates and nine denarates of
rent in Cowlinge, Suffolk, of the inheritance of Alice, were taken
into the hands of King Edward II after the death of Thomas,
her husband, and had not been restored to her. 2

Eubulo and Alice were summoned on November 6, 1329, to
show why they claimed frankpledge and other liberties in her
manor of Wadenhoe, Northants. Alice said that she held them
of immemorial user, and her claim was allowed, except that of
wreck, which was struck out on the ground that a manor in
Northamptonshire was too far from the sea for wrecks to be cast
up thereon. 3

Eytoii shows 4 that on February 16, 1330, Edward III gave the
manor of Overton, Flintshire, the land of Maelor Saesneg, the
manor of Grauncestre, and the manor and castle of Ellesmere,
with its hamlets, to Eubulo and his wife. Alice, during her
widowhood, had given several of her castles and manors to
Edward II and the two Despencers, all of which had now devolved
on Edward III by inheritance or forfeiture ; Eubulo and Alice
had quitclaimed the above castles, &c., to the young King, who
now gave Ellesmere and the other lands to them and the heirs of
Alice, to hold by the service of two knights' fees. 5 Eyton points
out that certain other manors, which had been given by Edward II
to Alice for her life only, were now settled by Edward III on her
and her husband, and her husband's heirs, but he is unable to
solve the difficulty, viz., that (as we shall see) Ellesmere eventually
went to the heirs of Eubulo, and not to those of Alice.

Eubulo le Strange was one of the barons who contributed
to the overthrow of Mortimer and Queen Isabella in 1330, and
enabled Edward III to take the reins of government into his
own hands. He rewarded the services of Eubulo and Alice by a
grant, made to them on February 16, 1331, of the manors of

1 C.P.R., 1327-1330, p. 338.

2 Misc. Chanc. Inq. Edw. Ill, File 108 (2nd number), No. 101.

3 Plac. de Quo Warr., Edw. I, II, and III, 51805. 4 x. 245-246.
5 Rot. Chart. 5 Edw. Ill, No. 83.

JOHN LE STRANGE AND HAMON LE STRANGE 277

Colham and Edgware, Middlesex, the manor of Holborn in London,
and other lands in Oxfordshire, Lincolnshire, and Northampton-
shire, as also the castles of Clifford and Glasbury in Wales. 1 The
manor of Edgware descended to the le Stranges of Knockin, and
was subsequently alienated by Richard Lord Strange in 1423,
and came into the possession of Chichele ; hence the original
grant found its way into the Muniment Room of All Souls' College,
Oxford, where it is still preserved. Richard's charter has appended
to it a good impression of his seal of arms viz. gules, two lions
passant, argent ; above the shield is a helm with a lion statant as
crest, and on either side the legend : ' S. ric : leftrange dni : de :
Knokyn.' The grant to Eubulo is enrolled in the Charter Rolls,
and recites that it is made in consideration of the good service
rendered and to be rendered by him, and of the quit-claim made
by him and Alice his wife of all her right in the lands which the
King holds of her inheritance ; and, further, that it is made with
the consent of the prelates, earls, barons, and chief men in the
King's last Parliament at Westminster. 2 It was also expressly
stated that the lands granted were to be held by Eubulo and Alice,
and the heirs of Eubulo ; which provision explains Eyton's diffi-
culty as to why Ellesmere went to the heirs of Eubulo and not
to those of his wife.

A separate grant was made on the same day, also with the
assent of Parliament, to Eubulo and Alice, in return for a release
to the King and his heirs, of the right of the said Alice in the
castles, towns, manors, and lands which before her marriage she
surrendered to the late King and the Despencers, and which
escheated to the King by the forfeiture of the latter, of the castle
and cantred of Builth in Wales, and also of the manor of Bisham,
co. Berks, with all their appurtenances, to hold for the life of
Alice. 3

A few weeks before, viz. on December 21, 1330, a writ of aid
had been issued for Eubulo le Strange, and William and Edward
de Bohun, sent to bring Queen Isabella from Berkhampsted to

1 Cat. of Archives of All Soul's Coll., Oxon, p. 34.

1 C. Ch. R., 1-14 Edw. Ill, vol. iv., p. 213, memb. 31.

8 C.P.R., 1330-1334. P- 74-

278 LE STRANGE RECORDS

spend Christmas at Windsor. 1 This shows that, although her
movements were controlled by her son, Isabella was not kept a
prisoner as foreign chroniclers relate.

The Constable of Bristol Castle was ordered, on July 5, 1331,
to deliver from prison there Hugh le Despencer, as Eubulo le
Strange and ten others had mainperned before the King for his
appearance in fifteen days before the King and Council to stand
to right. 2 This was the son and grandson respectively of the
two Hugh Despencers, executed in 1326, whose honours had
been forfeited on their attainder ; he was restored to favour,
and subsequently summoned to Parliament as a baron in
1338.

A certain amount of insubordination, which survived as a
legacy of the last reign, was strongly suppressed by the young
King. In Lincolnshire Eubulo le Strange's name appears as
the first of eight others, who were appointed with him on March
21, 1332, as keepers of the county, to arrest disturbers of the
peace ; 3 and on the same day another patent repeats the appoint-
ment to put a stop to the lawlessness now prevalent. 4 Further
evidence of these disturbances appears in a patent of July 22
following, whereby, in consequence of cross complaints of trespass
made by the abbot of Crowland and Thomas Wake against each
other, and of the existence of assemblies of armed men in the
parts of Holland on account of dissensions maintained by the
abbot, directions were given that the prior of Spalding, Eubulo
le Strange, and Thomas Wake should make inquisition touching
such unlawful assembly. 5

The year 1332 saw the renewal of the attempt to bring Scot-
land under feudal subjection to England, but the enterprise met
with no permanent success. On July 24 the Sheriff of Lincoln was
ordered to cause archers to be chosen to help the King in his
approaching expedition to Ireland, and, for this purpose, Eubulo
le Strange was required to find eighty archers. 6 I can find no
evidence of any contemplated expedition to Ireland at this time,

1 C.P.R., 1330-1334. p- 36. z c. a. R., 1330-1337. p- 325-

3 C.P.R., 1330-1334, p. 293. 4 Ibid. p. 348.

6 Ibid. p. 351. 6 C. Cl. R., 1330-1333, p. 487.

JOHN LE STRANGE AND HAMON LE STRANGE 279

and have little doubt that the real objective was Scotland, which
Edward did not care to acknowledge openly, as he was bound
by the treaty which had been made for him whilst still under
tutelage. Balliol's victory at Dupplin Moor furnished Edward
with the argument that, as Scotland had changed her King,
previous treaties were no longer binding ' Once more a Balliol
was to be a puppet king in the hands of an English overlord/ x
Balliol was soon driven out of Scotland, but Edward proceeded
"with his own attempt to reduce the Scots to subjection. For this
purpose the King had need of the services of Eubulo le Strange,
and he was relieved of his functions as keeper and justice in
Lincolnshire, and was directed on November 25, 1332, to send in
his rolls and indictments. 2 By patent of March 4, 1333, Richard
de Wylughby was appointed keeper of the county of Lincoln in
place of Eubulo, ' who is engaged on business of the King and
unable to act/ 3 This business was to repel the invasion of the
Scots, who had expelled Balliol at Christmas-time, and resumed
the offensive by invading England. The feudal levies were
called out, and Eubulo was among those summoned to be at
Newcastle, equis et armis, by Trinity to repel the Scots. 4 He held
a prominent command in this campaign ; the abbot of St. Mary's,
York, receiver of monies of the tenth and fifteenth, was directed to
pay him a hundred marks on March 26 ; 5 and the prior of Spalding
petitioned, on May 3, to be excused providing a cart and five
horses for the King's carriage to Scotland, on the ground that
his convent had already given so much aid to Eubulo le Strange,
patron of his house, in horses and carriages for Scotland, that
they had none for their own use. 6 Edward marched into Scotland
and laid siege to Berwick, which, owing to the fortifications
erected by his grandfather, offered a tough resistance ; on July
15 an agreement was entered into between Patrick Dunbar, Earl
of March, and the English King that the town, if not relieved before
the 20th, should be surrendered ; this agreement was sealed,

1 England in the Later Middle Ages, by Kenneth Vickers, p. 151.

2 C. Cl. R., 1330-1333, p. 617. 3 C.P.R., 1330-1334. P- 44 1 -

4 Rot. Claus., 7 Edw. Ill, pt. i., m. 19, dors. 5 C. Cl. R., I333~i337. P- 2I

6 C. Doc. Scot., 1307-1357, iii. p. 194, No. 1076.

2 8o LE STRANGE RECORDS

inter olios, by ' Monsieur Ebol L'Estraunge ' ; * the Regent,
Douglas, had marched to its relief, but was defeated and killed
on the iQth at Halidon Hill, a battle in which the English knights
and men-at-arms dismounted and fought on foot, while the day
was practically decided by the archers on the two wings, before
the men-at-arms had struck a blow. William Cole, in his collec-
tions made at Cambridge in 1776, says that in this battle ' Sir
Eubulo le Strange was one of the principal leaders, under whose
banner the lords John Willoughby and John Fauconberg fought
valiantly/ 2 The young King, David II, fled to France, and
Edward Balliol was received as King of Scots by a Parliament
held at Perth in October.

Eubulo having left Lincoln, the payment of his rent of 20
from the castle thereof had again fallen into arrear, so he procured
an order, dated October 10, 1333, directing the Sheriff, as long
as he held office, to pay that amount to him and Alice. 3 By a
patent of March 2, 1334, Eubulo was allowed to nominate attorneys
in England until Michaelmas, as he was going beyond seas, but
nothing is stated as to the occasion of this journey. 4 A commission
of Oyer and Terminer was issued on September 30 following, on
his complaint that, whereas he and other lords of the manor of
Friskeneye, Lincolnshire, time out of mind have used wreck of
the sea therein, certain persons have carried away a whale, worth
100, cast ashore by the sea within that manor. 5 Even allowing
for the value of sperm oil for lighting purposes in those days, it is
difficult to believe that any whale could have been worth a sum
equivalent to 1000 to 1200 of our money to-day. Eubulo was
rewarded on September 25, 1334, by a grant, in consideration of
his charges, risks, and labours in the King's service, that, if he
survive his wife Alice, he shall retain for his life the castle and
cantred of Builth, in Wales, with its appurtenances, in enlargement
of the late grant by letters patent of these and the manor of
Bisham, co. Berks, to them for the life of Alice. 6 This grant was
further enlarged on April 4, 1335, by another patent which pro-

1 Rot. Scot., 7 Edw. Ill, m. 14. B.M. Add. MSS. 5849, p. 461.

c. a. R., 1333-1337, P . i 4 o. * C.P.R., 1330-1334. p- 5 12 -

6 Ibid. 1334-1338, p. 64. 6 Ibid. p. 34.

JOHN LE STRANGE AND HAMON LE STRANGE 281

vided that, if he survived his wife Alice, he should retain the
manor of Bisham for his life. 1 The Patent Rolls of July 14, 1335,
contain a notification that, in Easter term last, by judgment of
the justices of York, Eubulo and Alice recovered against the
sub-prior and convent of Spalding the presentation to the church
of Gate Burton, as pertaining to them by reason of the priory
being void and in their hands. 2

Edward again invaded Scotland in 1335, but never got into
touch with the Scots, who retired before his advance, and refused
to meet him in the open field. On March 27 a requisition was sent
to Wales for 2000 footmen and 20 men-at-arms to be selected,
for the defence of the kingdom in the marches of England and
Scotland, from the King's lands in Wales, and from the domains
' dilecti et fidelis nostri Ebulonis le Strange de Buelt in Suth Wall'.'
Eubulo himself was enjoined to help in their selection, and to
join the King at Newcastle, with horses and arms, for the expedi-
tion against the Scots. 3 Special orders were sent two months
later that the 2000 footmen were all to be Welshmen, unmixed
with Englishmen living in Wales, 4 and Eubulo, lord of Builth,
was among the English magnates, holding lands in Wales, to whom
directions were sent that they were to guard the seaports and
coasts, and to resist the Scots manfully if they made incursion
into Wales. 5

The above were the last mandates directed to Eubulo, who
took part in the invasion of Scotland and lost his life there, but
whether by accident, disease, or in some nameless skirmish does
not appear. Writs of ' diem clausit extremum ' were issued on
September 17, 1335, to the Sheriffs of the various counties in
which, in his own right or that of his wife, he held land, and the
jurors stated that, as they believe, he died ' in partibus Scotie ' on
September 8, 1335, and that his nephew, Roger le Strange of
Knockin, aged forty years and more, was his heir. The respective
inquisitions show the extent of his possessions to have been as
follows : 6

1 C.P.R., 1330-1334, p- 85. * Ibid. p. 155. Rot. Scot., i. 330-332.

Ibid. i. 3480. s Ibidf

P.R.O. Chancery Inq. Edw. Ill, File 43, No. 42.

282

LE STRANGE RECORDS

A capital messuage in Holborn, in the suburbs
of London, formerly belonging to Henry
de Lacy 1

The manor of Colham, with the hamlet of
Uxbridge, as of the Honour of Walling-
ford

The manor of Edgeware, with hamlet of Kings-
bury

Colston Bassett

The manor of Kingston Lacy, and the borough
of Blandford

The castle and cantred of Builth

The manor of Bisham

Land and tenements in Avington

Rents in Newbury

The manor of Great Amesbury

A messuage and three carucates of land

The manor of Burcestre
The manor of Mudelynton

Lands and tenements in Holmer
Two water-mills in Denham
Lands and tenements in Westbury and Rad-
clyve, as of the Honour of St. Waleric

The manor of Wadenhoe
The manor of Gransete

The castle of Clifford

The manor of Ellesmere, with hamlets of Col-
mere and Hampton.

The manor of Saltfleetby, capital messuage

and lands
A moiety of the manor of Scartho, a lordship,

and 20 yearly rent

> Middlesex.

Notts'.
[ Dorset.
Brecon.

Berks'.

Wilts'.
Oxon'.

f Bucks'.

Northampton'.
Cantabr'.

Hereford and
the Marches.

- Lincoln*.

1 Professor Tout suggests that this capital messuage, which had belonged to the
Earl of Lincoln, may have given the name to Lincoln's Inn.

JOHN LE STRANGE AND HAMON LE STRANGE 283

Lincoln the custody of the castle and baili-
wick, with 20 yearly rent for the
penny of the county

The manor of Sedgebrook, as of the Honour
of Eye

The manor of Horbling ) Lincoln',

The manor of Halton

Lands and tenements in Alkborough and
Burton-on-Stather

The castle of Bolingbroke

The manor of Badenhoo

The King's escheators in many of the above counties were
directed, on October 9, 1335, not to interfere with these castles
and manors, taken into the King's hands by reason of Eubulo's
death, but to restore them to Alesia, as they had been confirmed
to her for her life. 1

The executors of Eubulo's will were the abbot of Barlings, the
abbot of Revesby, Henry de Halton, and Alice herself ; 2 he was
buried at Barlings Abbey, near Lincoln, 3 and as he left no issue
his peerage expired with him.

Alice, with her rich inheritance, was not likely to remain a
widow for long, though she was at this time about fifty-two
years of age. Early in 1336 she had become the wife of Hugh
de Freyne, who had been Constable oi Cardigan, Warden of Ber-
wick-upon-Tweed, and Justice of Chester ; the marriage had taken
place without the King's licence, so orders were sent to the
Sheriffs of Lincoln, Oxford, and many other counties, to take
into the King's hands the lands, goods, and chattels of Hugh de
Freyne and Alice, Countess of Lincoln, and to keep the same
until further order ; the said Hugh and Alice having escaped from
the castle of Somerton, where the King had ordered them to
be kept separately, because Hugh took her from the castle of
Bolingbroke by force. 4 Apparently the offence was condoned,
probably by payment of a fine, as an order was issued on March 20,

1 c. a. R., 1333-1337. p- 444-

3 Complete Peerage, vii. 268.

* Ibid. p. 536.

C.F.R., I333-I337. P- 554-

284 LE STRANGE RECORDS

1336, to deliver to Alice and Hugh de Freyne a messuage at
Newbury, Berks, 1 and other manors were restored to her in the
following year. 2 Hugh de Freyne was summoned to Parliament
as a baron by writ of November 29, 1336, but died at Perth in
the following month, leaving no issue, so his honours became
extinct. 3 The Countess of Lincoln thus became a widow for the
third time, but did not contract any further marriage. The
escheat or beyond Trent was ordered, on March I, 1337, not to
interfere with certain manors, taken into the King's hand by
reason of the death of Hugh de Freyne, who had married Alice,
late wife of Eubulo le Strange, but to restore the same with their
issues to her. 4 A licence was given to her on June 20, 1337, to
grant to Roger le Strange, of Knockin, a life estate in Ellesmere,
Salop, and Overton Madok, Flint ; 5 and the castle and cantred
of Builth, with their issues, were also restored to her on March 12,
1338. 6 A commission was issued next year to make inquisition
touching reported defects in the castle of Builth, now held by
Alice, Countess of Lincoln, for life with reversion to the King, 7
Two commissions of Oyer and Terminer were issued in February,
1340, on the complaint of the countess that certain men had
carried away two fish called baleyn, worth 200, washed ashore
in her Lincolnshire manor of Friskeney, and another baleyn at
Sutton. 8 The annual payment of 20 to her in lieu of the 3rd penny
from the county of Lincoln was constantly in arrear, and fresh
orders to the Sheriff to pay it had to be issued in 1341, 1342, and

I345- 9

Alice de Lacy died at the age of sixty-five, without issue by any of
her three husbands, on October 2, 1348, and was buried at Bar-
lings Abbey, near her second husband, Eubulo le Strange. The
earldom of Lincoln, which, according to the original grant in
1232, ought to have fallen into abeyance among her own cousins,
was diverted in favour of the Royal Family, and given to Henry

1 C. Cl. R., 1333-1337, p. 554. * Ibid. i337- I 339, PP- l8 and 19.

8 Complete Peerage, iii. 404. * C. Cl. R., 1337-1339, p- 25.

6 C.P.R., 1334-1338, p. 465. 6 Pat. Rolls.

7 C.P.R., 1338-1340, p. 284. 8 Ibid. pp. 483 and 487.
* C. Cl. R., 1341-1343, pp. 2, 429, 608 ; ibid. 1343-1346, p. 499.

JOHN LE STRANGE AND HAMON LE STRANGE 285

Plantagenet, brother of her first husband. 1 After her death the
King's escheator was directed not to interfere with the manor of
Edgeware, as the King had learnt by an inquisition that Alice,
Countess of Lincoln, at her death held no lands in chief, but that
she and Eubulo, her late husband, held the manor for them-
selves and Eubulo 's heirs, and that Eubulo died during Alice's
life, wherefore the reversion of the manor descends to Roger le
Strange, as Eubulo's kinsman and heir, and Roger granted by
fine that the said manor, which Alice held for life of his inherit-
ance, should remain after her death to Nicholas de Cantelupe,
knight, for life, and that Alice surrendered to the said Nicholas
the said manor and her estate therein, and the manor is held in
chief by service of rendering 45. yearly, and the King has taken
Nicholas's fealty. 2

Thus of all the extensive manors which Alice had once pos-
sessed in right of her inheritance as Countess of Lincoln and of
Salisbury, it seems that she had none to leave to anyone after
her death ; for in many of them, which had been forfeited by the
attainder of her first husband, the Earl of Lancaster, she had,
on their restoration, accepted a life interest for herself; while
others, which she held with her second husband, Eubulo le Strange,
had been entailed on his heirs, and went to Roger, Lord Strange
of Knockin.

The subjoined curious deed, in Norman-French, shows that she
divested herself in her lifetime of all her castles and goods, mov-
able and immovable, as a gift to her cousin, Nicholas de Cantilupe,
and, in token of his seisin thereof, had delivered to him with
her own hands all her silver plate : 3

A toutz ceaux qe ceste Ire verront ou orront Aleise de Lasci countesse de
Nicole et de Saresbir' salutz en dieux. Sachez nous avoir donez et grauntez a
nre chier Cosyn Monsier Nicholas de Caunteloup toutz notz biens et chateaux,
meobles et nounmeobles, qucumqes qe nous auons en toutz notz chastels et
manoir pmy toute Engleterre et Gales le jour de la conieccion de cestes ; Jssint
qe nous ne notz executors, ne nul dep nous, desore auauant en les chateaux
auant ditz claym puis soms metre ; En tesmoignaunce de quele chose et en
affermentent de nre dit doun lui auons liverez p notz mayms meyne tout nre

1 Misc. Top. et Gen., viii. 155. 2 C. Cl. R. 1346-1349, p. 566.

3 B.M. Add. MSS. 6118, p. 535.

2 86 LE STRANGE RECORDS

vessel dargent en noun de plenere seysine des toutz les biens et chatoux, meobles
et noun meobles auaunt ditz. Sauuant tout ditz les biens et les chateaux qe
sount a la purpartie de nre tres chier Seigneur MonS Oble Lestrange, qe dieux
assoille. En tesmoignaunce de quele chose a ceste nfe pnt doun auons mys nre
seal, p iceaux tesmoignes. MonS Johan de Wylugby. Mons Willem Deyncourt,
Mons Adam de Welle, Mon Norman Darcy. Mon Henri de Halton, Mon
Wauter de Fauconberge, MonS Robt de Silkeston chivalers et autres. Don a
Bolingbroke lendemayn de la Natiuite saint John Baptist Ian de regne Rei Edward
tiertz puis le conquest unzieme. [25 June, 1337.]

LE STRANGE OF LITCHAM.

We have seen * that John le Strange of Litcham died on May
21, 1305, without issue, leaving his brother Ralph as his heir.
In March 1304, John and his wife dementia presented to the
rectory of Wellingham, theadvowson of which, after John's death,
descended to dementia, who presented in 1311, 1313, and 1315. 2

The manor of Wellingham was conveyed to John by Ralph,

son of John le Strange of Litcham, in the 2nd of Edward II
[1308-9] . 3 In the loth of Edward II [1316-17] the same Ralph fined
the advowson and mediety of the manor of Little Snoring to
Alexander de Walcote and Matilda his wife ; 4 and in the following
year Alexander and Matilda made fine in Little Snoring to de-
mentia, widow of Johnle Strange of Litcham. 5 The Feudal Aids
for 1316 show that the hundreds of Launditch and South Greenhoe
were in the hand of dementia, and that she was one of the lords
of the manors of Wellingham and Little Snoring. 6 Isabella, the
mother of dementia's husband John, was surviving in 1316, as
writs of March 5 of that year certify her as holding part of the
township of Litcham, and also the township of Bolas, Salop. 7

JOHN LE STRANGE, CANON OF EXETER AND VICAR OF FROME.

A John le Strange, whom I am unable to connect with any
branch of the family, occurs as canon residentiary of Exeter and
vicar of Frome at this period. In the will of Thomas de Bitton,

1 Supra, p. 48. * Carthew's Launditch, iii. 434.

3 Rye's Feet of Fines for Norfolk, pt. ii. , p. 224, No. no.

4 Ibid. p. 246, No. 539. 5 Ibid. p. 252, No. 661.
6 Feudal Aids, 1284-1431, iii. pp. 453, 455, 460.

" Parl. Writs, ii. Div. 3, 1471.

JOHN LE STRANGE AND HAMON LE STRANGE 287

Bishop of Exeter (1310), among payments to be made to divers
persons, is mentioned ' to John Straunge and other Canons re-
siding in the church of Exeter, vii dishes [disci] of silver, with
as many salt-cellars of silver of the value of xli., x]s., ]d. ; viz. to
each of them one dish with a salt-cellar.' 1 He occurs again in
the proof of age made by Andrew, son and heir of Nicholas Braunche
of Somerset, on June 10, 1333, wherein it is found that the said
Andrew was born at Frome, and baptized in the church there by
Sir John Straunge, then vicar of the same, anno 5Edw. II [1312] . 2
There is a letter addressed to him in Bishop Stapeldon's Register ; 3
but Strange is a common name. In the same register there is a
reference 4 to Roger Strange, and to Nicholas Strange, canon of
St. Crantock.

1 Account of the Executors of Thos. de Bitton, Bp. oj Exeter, Camden Soc., 1874, p. ag.
1 C.I.P.M., Edw. Ill, vii. 380, No. 540. 3 Ed. Hingeston Randolph, p. n.

4 Ibid. p. 384.

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CHAPTER VIII

LE STRANGE OF BLACKMERE
1309-1616

OF Robert, the progenitor of this House, the fourth and youngest
son of John le Strange (III) of Knockin, some account has already
been given. 1 He died before September 1276, and his eldest son,
John, who had been committed during his minority to the custody
of Eineon, Bishop of St. Asaph, came of age on September 17,
I287, 2 and was admitted to his inheritance on October 6 following ;
a memorandum of the same date states that John came into
Chancery at Westminster, and acknowledged that his marriage
belonged to Robert Burnell, Bishop of Bath and Wells, the chan-
cellor. 3 No marriage took place, and John died within two
years ; on June 14, 1289, the escheat or south of Trent was ordered
to take into the King's hands the lands late of John, son of Robert
le Strange, deceased, tenant in chief. 4 At the inquisition, held
at Chester on July 17, the jury found that John, when he died,
held in chief the manor of Marbury by service of one knight's
fee, worth 10, and that of the third part thereof his mother
Eleanor, wife of Robert, was dowered ; also that Fulk, son of the
said Robert, and brother of John, is heir, and of the age of twenty-
two years. 5 The authorities did not even wait for the result of
the above inquisition, as, on July 16, i.e. the day before it was

1 Supra, pp. 170-175; * Chancery Inq. p.m., 15 Edw. I, File 49 (13).

3 C. Cl. R., 1279-1288, pp. 458 and 489.

4 C.F.R., 1272-1307, i. 260 ; Rot. Orig. in Cur. Scacc., i. 612.

5 Chancery Inq. p.m., Edw. I, File 53 (15).

289 u

290

LE STRANGE RECORDS

held, the escheator was ordered to deliver to Fulk, brother and
heir of John le Strange, the lands of his said brother, he having
done fealty, so that he do homage on the King's coming to Eng-
land. 1 The Hampshire inquisition, held on July 9, 1289, found
that John le Strange held the manor of Chawton in that county,
including a pasture called Estdone, and a wood in the forest con-
taining 200 acres, worth no more than 55. on account of the dues
of the foresters (dangerium forestariorum) , held of Sir Edmund,
Earl of Leicester, the King's brother, by service of three knight's
fees ; and that Eleanor, mother of the said John, was dowered
in this manor. 2

The farm of the manor of Wrockwardine, which was held of
the King at a yearly rent of 8, 3 had fallen into arrear during the
minority of Fulk, and the accumulated debt when John had
livery thereof amounted to 66. Fulk obtained a grant from
the King in 1290, pursuant to which the Exchequer was notified
that he would pay 6os. at Easter and Michaelmas next, and loos,
at Easter and Michaelmas following, and so from year to year
until the debt was liquidated. 4 At the Assizes of 1292 the Brad-
ford jurors presented Fulk, as of full age and yet not a knight,
also as claiming free-warren, free court, gallows, and assize of
bread and beei in his manor of Wrockwardine, 5 he was summoned
by writ of Quo Warranto to show how he claimed those fran-
chises ; he averred that King Henry III had granted the said
privileges with the manor to his predecessor, John le Strange,
whose heir he was. A day was assigned for hearing whether
any specific grant of these royal privileges had been made. The
pleadings are set out at length, but no decision is recorded. 6

A licence is entered on the Patent Rolls of July 14, 1294, for
Fulk le Strange, going on the King's service to Gascony, to sell,
cut down, and carry timber to the value of 40 out of his wood of
Chawton, within the metes of the forest of Porchester, in those
places where it will be to the least damage of the said forest. 7

1 C.F.R., 1272-1307, i. 263. * Inq. p.m., Edw. I, File 53 (15).

3 Supra, p. 186. * Rot. Orig. in cur. Scacc., i. 656.

8 Eyton, ix. 26. 6 Plac. de Quo Warr., Edw. I, II, and III, pp. 684, 687.

7 C.P.R., Edw. I, 1292-1301, p. 80.

29 1

It is evident that he won his spurs in that expedition, as three
years later, viz. on March 3, 1297, an order is entered on the
Close Rolls to cause Fulk le Strange to be acquitted of 24, ex-
acted from him by reason of the manor of Chawton, Hampshire,
which belonged to Hamon le Strange, late Sheriff of Hampshire,
now in Fulk's hands, which sum Hamon owed to the Exchequer
for many defaults when he was Sheriff, as the King has pardoned
this sum to Fulk for good service rendered in Gascony. 1 In
1297 he was returned from the county of Salop as holding lands
to the value of 20 yearly, and, as such, was summoned to the
muster at London under the general writ, to perform military
service in person beyond seas. 2 Eyton, commenting on these
writs, says that they contain more than sixty entries of his offices,
liabilities, and summonses both military and parliamentary,
during a period of thirty years. 3 His name appears among the
knights summoned from the county of Sussex to meet the King
at York at Pentecost, 1298, thence to set out for Scotland ; 4
this was for the campaign in which Edward defeated the Scots
at Falkirk. Next year an order appears on the Close Rolls,
under date of November 16, to cause Fulk le Strange, who is
setting out for the King's service in Scotland with William le
Latimer, to have respite until Easter for all debts due to the
King. 5 On the same day he had letters of protection until
Michaelmas, as he was going to Scotland with the King. 6 On
April 14, 1300, the Justice of Chester was ordered to warn Hugh
de Audley and Fulk le Strange to provide themselves with horses
and arms, and to be with the King at Carlisle at midsummer,
ready to set out at his wages against the Scots. 7 Fulk was ap-
pointed on the same day one of the commissioners to summon
the knights of the county of Chester for the purpose of serving
against the Scots, and he was enjoined on April n to enforce
the levies of the men-at-arms in that county, and to return the
names of all defaulters into the wardrobe. 8 It was perhaps

1 C. Cl. R., Edw. I, 1296-1302, iv. 19. Parl. Writs, i. 848.

3 Eyton, ii. 122, n. * Parl. Writs, i. 312.

6 C. Cl. R., 1296-1302, iv. 286. 6 C.P.R., 1292-1301, p. 456.

7 C. Cl. R., 1296-1302, p. 381. Parl. Writs, i. 848.

u 2

292 LE STRANGE RECORDS

because he was engaged on these duties that he was not present,
as was his cousin John (V) of Knockin, at the siege of Caerlaverock
in July.

Fulk le Strange acquired a considerable extension of property
through his wife Eleanor, daughter and co-heiress of John Giffard
of Brimsfield, co. Gloucester, who died on May 28, 1299, at which
date Eleanor was twenty-four years of age. 1 Her mother, Maud,
who had predeceased John Giffard, was daughter and co-heiress
of Walter de Clifford (III), and on the division of the Clifford
estates between the co-heiresses, the important manor of Corf-
ham, in Shropshire, fell to the share of Eleanor. Corfham was
an ancient demesne of the Crown, which had originally been given
by Henry II to Walter de Clifford (I) for love of fair Rosamond,
his daughter.

Though not summoned to the Pailiament at Lincoln in 1301,
Fulk's name appears among the barons who sealed the letter to
the Pope on February 12. The legend on his seal, a copy of
which is figured in the chapter of the heraldry of the family, 2 is
simply :

S' : FULCHONIS : LE : ESTRAVNGE

without any territorial designation ; while, in the body of the
original document, as printed by Lord Howard de Walden. 3
and also in the ' Complete Peerage,' 4 it is given as ' D'n's de
Corsham. ' This, I venture to believe, is an error, due to the simi-
larity in the MS. of the long ' s ' to the letter ' f .' It may even
have been an error made by the scribe who wrote the original
MS., who perhaps knew Corsham in Wiltshire, but had never
heard of Corfham in Shropshire. It is, however, somewhat
curious that Fulk should have adopted as his designation the
name of a Shropshire manor, which, as ;we have seen, he only
held in right of his wife, instead of calling himself Lord of Wrock-
wardine, or some other manor which he held in his own right.

1 Inq. 27 Edw. I, No. 55. 2 Infra, p. 371, PI. x. 4.

3 Some Feudal Lords and their Seals MCCI. With an Introduction by Lord Howard
de Walden, p. 140. * ist ed. vii. 271.

LE STRANGE OF BLACKMERE 293

The designation of Lord of Corfham leads to the same confusion
in other instances. The Calendar of Papal Letters published
in the Rolls Series contains two letters from Clement V, dated
at Poitiers on November 21, 1307, to Fulk le Strange, Lord of
Whitchurch, in the diocese of Coventry, and Margaret, daughter
of the late John Giffard, Lord of Corsham, in the diocese of Here-
ford. 1 The mention of the diocese proves that Corfham was
intended, since Corsham in Wiltshire is not in the diocese of Here-
ford, but in that of Salisbury, while Corfham in Shropshire is in
the diocese of Hereford. The Pope's letters convey a dispensa-
tion, the necessity for which is difficult to explain. The first letter
is written to Fulk and Margaret his wife ; probably it was found
out at once that her name was not Margaret but Eleanor, since
the second letter of the same date and tenour names her cor-
rectly as Eleanor, daughter of John Giffard; it empowers them
to continue in the marriage which they have contracted in
ignorance that they were related in the fourth degree of
kindred, with legitimation of issue, past and future. A careful
examination of the pedigrees of Fulk and Eleanor, so far as
1 have been able to trace them, fails to disclose any relationship
whatever.

Richard fitz Alan, lord of Clun and Oswestry, and Earl of
Arundel, had died early in 1302, leaving his son Edmund a minor.
The custody of the castles of Clun and Oswestry, with several
Shropshire manors belonging to him, was committed during
pleasure to Fulk le Strange in the 33rd of Edward I. 1

In 1306 Edward again invaded Scotland, and Fulk was among
those summoned to Carlisle on July 8 to perform military service
in person, or to appear at the Exchequer to compound for such
service. 3 The Close Rolls of May 15, 1308, contain an order to
the Treasurer of the Exchequer acquitting Fulk le Strange of
loos, rent in Acton Round, Salop, demised by Richard, late Earl
of Arundel, to John de Siboton. 4 Another entry, on December 12
of the following year, directs the Treasurer to allow to Fulk, son
and heir of Robert le Strange, the sums levied by the Sheriff

1 Papal Letters, 1305-1342, ii. 32 and 38. * Rot. Orig. in cur. Scacc., i. 656.

3 Parl. Writs, i. 848. C. Cl. R., 1307-1313, p. 36.

294

LE STRANGE RECORDS

of Salop and Stafford from Robert, in part payment of debts due
to the late King. 1

The name of John, son of Fulk le Strange, appears in an
inquisition Ad Quod Damnum, held in 1307, respecting ' Chalghton
bosc infra metas foreste pro maeremio (timber) ibidem prostrato.' 2
This, no doubt, had reference to the licence granted to Fulk in
1294 3 to cut down 40 worth of timber in Chawton wood. On
May 4, 1309, Fulk was placed with others on a commission of
Oyer and Terminer respecting Ivo de Sutton's misappropriation
of moneys. 4 On July 30 of that year he was summoned to be at
Newcastle-on-Tyne, ' equis etarmis,' on Michaelmas day, to proceed
against the Scots who do not observe the truce. 5 On Septem-
ber 6, 1309, he attested the important family arrangement for
assuring Knockin to John le Strange (VI), and enfeornng the
latter 's brother Hamon in the manor of Hunstanton, 6 and he also
witnessed the further documents of November 30 7 and Decem-
ber 8 8 for carrying that arrangement into effect. I have already
mentioned 9 that he was one of the three le Strange knights
present at the tournament at Stepney in June, 1309.

The barony of Strange of Blackmere is considered by modern
peerage lawyers to have been created by the writ addressed to
Fulk le Strange on January 13, 1309, summoning him to attend
Parliament, 10 and by usage of a later date he is set down as the
first peer of that creation. Although descriptively a baron, that
designation was scarcely as yet a title ; by contemporaries he
was simply styled ' dominus ' or ' miles ' ; our translation of dominus
as = * sir' when speaking of a knight, and=' lord ' when speaking
of a baron obscures the similarity of the mediaeval use of the
term for both classes alike.

The Parliamentary Writs for the next fifteen years teem with
summonses addressed to Fulk. 11 In 1309 he was summoned to

1 C. CL R., 1307-1313, p. 187. z Cal. Rot. Chart. Inq. a. Q.D., p. 2216.

3 Supra, p. 290. * C.P.R., 1307-1313, p. 172.

6 Rot. Glaus., 3 Edw. II, m. 44, dors. 6 Hunstn. Evidences j A. i. I

7 KM- |_A._2. I 8 Ibid. |T. 4 7|

9 Supra, p. 220. 10 Complete Peerage (ist ed.), vii. 271.

" Parl. Writs, ii. Div. 3, p. 1468.

LE STRANGE OF BLACKMERE 295

a council to be held at Westminster on February 23 ; to a Parlia-
ment there on April 27 ; to another to be held at Stamford on
July 27 ; to a muster at Newcastle on September 29 for military
service in person against the Scots ; 1 to a Parliament to be holden
at York on February 8 following, the date and meeting-place of
which were altered by a later summons to December 12 at West-
minster. On December 18, 1309, he was appointed one of three
Justices in Shropshire to receive complaints of prises taken contrary
to the statute. 2

In 1310 the quarrel between the barons and the King's favourite,
Piers Gaveston, was in active progress ; Gaveston had been
deprived of his honours and banished, and Edward, in order to
escape from the control of the barons, had gone north and in-
vaded Scotland with such adherents as he could prevail on to join
him. On June 18 Fulk le Strange was among those summoned to
muster at Berwick ; on August 2 he was earnestly requested to
attend the muster according to the preceding summons. It looks
as if he was unable or unwilling to go in person, as on September
19 he proffered the service of one knight's fee, and on the 2Oth
part of another, to be performed by two ' servientes.' In 1311 Fulk
was requested to be at Berwick on May 28 with as many followers
as he could raise. He was summoned to Parliament at London
on August 8, and again to the Parliament to be held by prorogation
at Westminster on November 5 ; he was again summoned among
the barons to Westminster on February 13 following.

In 1312 the barons, headed by Thomas Earl of Lancaster,
grandson of Henry III, took up arms, and Gaveston was captured
and beheaded ; the King was deserted by his forces, and was
obliged to make peace with the insurgent barons, and to promise
them pardon for the death of Gaveston. The treaty between the
King and the Earl of Lancaster and others, made on December
21, 1312, contained the following clause :

Et, de ce, que monsieur Fouk Lestrange se pleint que horn li ad fait gref, et
desseisi de puis le dit conduit, li ditz auditours appellez lez gentz le Roi, et le dit
monsieur Fouk, et oies lor resons, il leur ferront droit dessi come desus est dit.

1 Rot. Claus., 10 Edw. II, m. 26, d. * C.P.R., 3 Edw. II, p. 251.

8 Rot. Claus. 6 Edw. II, m. 8, d.

296 LE STRANGE RECORDS

The lands and goods of Fulk le Strange, as an adherent of the
Earl of Lancaster, had been seized into the King's hands, notwith-
standing the safe conduct granted to the Earl and his followers ;
but on complaint being made by Fulk, a commission of Oyer and
Terminer was issued to the Justices on December 31, 1312. 1 He
had been summoned to the Parliament held at Lincoln on July
23, and by prorogation at Westminster on August 20. Three
Parliaments, to each of which Fulk was summoned, were held
during 1313 to settle matters. 2 At the last of these, held
on October 16, special pardons, 472 in number, were issued
to the barons and knights who had been associated with
the Earl of Lancaster, one of these being granted to Fulk le
Strange. 3

Fulk le Strange, mindful of the blood-ties which connected
him with the Welsh lords of Upper Powys, backed up his first
cousin, Griffith de la Pole, in his attempt to deprive John Charlton
of Pool Castle, which John claimed by right of his wife Hawise
Gadarn (i.e. the mighty), granddaughter of Hawise le Strange
and Griffith ap Gwenwynwyn, also a cousin of Fulk's (his aunt
Hawise's granddaughter). Charlton was a prominent courtier,
the King's chamberlain, and his pushful policy was naturally
resented by the Shropshire lords of settled position like the le
Stranges. An amnesty was granted on November 6, 1313, to
Griffith de la Pole and Fulk le Strange and their adherents for
the siege of Pool Castle, and for all deeds of arms in the lands of
Powys and la Pole ; and for John de Charlton, who held the castle
during such siege, and his adherents, touching all acts done by
them at that time. 4 Roger de Mortimer, of Chirk, Justice of
Wales, was directed on November 22 to release all those whom
he had arrested on account of the siege of the castle, whom he
knows to be accomplices of Griffith de la Pole and Fulk le
Strange, as Parliament has enacted that they should not be
molested. 5 These transactions clearly show that in politics Fulk,
like most of the Marchers at that period, was on the side of the

1 C.P.R., 1307-1313, p. 546. z Parl. Writs, ii. Div. 3, p. 1469.

8 Pat. Rolls, 7 Edw. II, m. 15, i. * C.P.R., 1313-1317. P- 26 -

6 C. Cl. R., 1313-1318, p. 29 ; Rot. Pat., 7 Edw. II, pt. i. f in ced. m. 15-

LE STRANGE OF BLACKMERE 297

Lords Ordainers ; thus, as so often happened, the course of private
feuds and general politics ran in the same channels.

Fulk was summoned on December 23, 1313, to be at Berwick
equis et armis, on June 4, to set out against Robert the Bruce. 1
A commission of Oyer and Terminer was issued to the Justices,
on September 13, 1314, on complaint by Fulk le Strange touch-
ing the persons who forcibly entered his free chaces of Clyes and
Ernestre, co. Salop, hunted therein without licence, and carried
away deer. 2 This complaint was renewed in 1318 and 1320, and
further commissions of Oyer and Terminer were appointed. 3 In
spite of the order of 1297 4 acquitting Fulk for 24, due to the
Exchequer from the manor of Chawton, demands appear to have
been still made on Fulk for that debt, as the Close Rolls of Feb-
ruary 24, 1315, contain an entry acquitting him thereof, as the
King had pardoned him that sum in consideration of his good
services in Gascony. 5

In 1314 Edward marched with a large force into Scotland,
but was totally defeated at Bannockburn and obliged to retire
to Berwick. A writ issued thence on June 30, six days after the
battle, summoned Fulk to muster anew at Newcastle on August
15, and he was also directed to attend a Parliament at York on
September 9. The Scots ravaged Northumberland in 1315, and
besieged Carlisle in August ; on the 3oth of that month Fulk,
with other barons, received writs requesting them to continue
in the northern parts during the winter campaign, and to repair
to the King on November i. 6 A Parliament, to which Fulk was
summoned, was ordered to meet at Lincoln on January 27, 1316.

The settlement of the manor of Cheswardine on Hamon, a
younger son of Fulk, in 1315, has already been mentioned. 7 In
the Nomina Villarum, a return by the Sheriffs in 1316 of the names
of all the villages in England and the possessors thereof, Fulk le
Strange is entered as sole lord of Album Monasterium (Whitchurch),
and the inquest at his death in 1324 shows that he held it of Earl
Warenne ' by service of taking the venison throughout the Earl's

1 Rot. Claus., 7 Edw. II, m. 14, d. * C.P.R., 1313-1317, p. 236.

3 Ibid. pp. 293, 447. Supra, p. 291. s C. Cl. R., 1313-1318, p. 163.

8 Rot. Claus., 9 Edw. II, m. 24, d. 7 Supra, p. 247.

298

LE STRANGE RECORDS

lands in England, at the charges of the said Earl/ 1 The Feodary
of 1316 certifies him as lord of the following manors :

Blaunchminster ( Whitchurch) .
Rockardyne (Wrockwardine).
Salop Corfham.

Longenotr' (Longnor).
Sutton.

Southampton

Chalston (Chawton).
Clanfield.
Blendworth.
Catherington. 2

Fulk was summoned thrice in 1316 to perform military service
against the Scots, 3 but the Earl of Lancaster refused to join the
royal army, and the expedition was abandoned. Thrice again he
was summoned for the same object in 1317, but nothing came
of it. Three more summonses were issued to him in 1318 to
attend a Parliament at Lincoln, which was as often prorogued ;
on June 8 he had a writ, as one of the Majores Barones, informing
him that the Parliament summoned and prorogued as above is
revoked in consequence of the invasion of the Scots. He was
again summoned to the Parliament which met at York on October
2O, 4 and two days later 5 he obtained a pardon there, by consent
of Parliament, for all felonies and trespasses committed by him
as one of the adherents of the Earl of Lancaster, up to August 7
last. At Christmas of this year he was at Haughmond, as his
name appears as one of the attesting witnesses to the deed whereby
Edmund, Earl of Arundel, confirmed the gifts made by his pre-
decessors to that abbey. 6 In 1319 we find him included in the
writ for a Parliament to meet at York on May 6, and again, at
the end of the year, in the writ for the meeting of Parliament at
the same city on January 20, 1320. He was further summoned

1 Inq. 17 Edw. II, No. 73.

2 Parl. Writs, i. 848 ; Feudal Aids, 1284-1431, iv. pp. 226, 227, 230, and 234.

3 Parl. Writs, ii. Div. 3, p. 1419.

4 Doc. illustr. of Engl. hist, in thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, Queen's Remem-
brancer, p. ii.

8 Rot. Pat. 12 Edw. II, pt. i, m. 17. 6 Eyton, xi. 19.

LE STRANGE OF BLACKMERE 299

to that which met at Westminster on October 6 following, at
which the supremacy of England over the narrow seas was asserted.
On January 19, 1321, he was associated with the Archbishop of
York and others to treat for peace with Robert the Bruce. 1

The King was now beginning to show favour to Hugh le
Despencer, the younger, on whom he bestowed vast estates, and
the hand of Eleanor, one of the sisters and co-heiresses of the Earl
of Gloucester, who had been killed at Bannockburn ; yet Hugh
was never a favourite like Gaveston, and in 1318-19 was hardly
one of the courtier nobles, but rather inclined to the ' middle '
party that Pembroke was beginning to consolidate. 2 From his
marriage Despencer received a large share of South Wales, and
his covetous encroachments soon embroiled him with his Marcher
neighbours, the Mortimers and the Earl of Hereford, who in 1321
formed an association to drive the Despencers out of the kingdom.
Fulk le Strange, like most of the Marchers, changed sides as a
result of their natural fear of Despencer's designs on the March :
for very much the same reasons as in 1263 had brought about
the change of front by the Marcher barons of that day, when
they rallied to the King owing to the alliance between Llewelyn
and de Montfort and the aggressive policy of the latter. 3 On
April 21 a writ, directed to Fulk le Strange, requests him to co-
operate in appeasing the disturbances, and also to refrain from
attending any illegal confederacies or assemblies. 4 He was
summoned to a Parliament at Westminster on May 15, and was
ordered to abstain from the meeting of the ' good peers,' illegally
convened by the Earl of Lancaster, to be held at Doncaster on
November 29, 1321. 5

Early in 1322 the King took up arms against the barons.
Fulk was enjoined by writ on February 6 to raise as many men-
at-arms and foot-soldiers as he could, and to hold himself in
readiness to march with them to the King when thereto sum-
moned. The summons came quickly ; he was ordered to appear

* C.P.R., 1317-1321, p. 554.

* T. F. Tout, The Place oj Edward II in English History, pp. 136-141.

Supra, p. 128. Rot. Claus., 14 Edw. II, m. 7 dors, cedula.

5 Ibid. 15 Edw. II, m. 25, dors.

300 LE STRANGE RECORDS

with his forces at the muster at Coventry on February 28, for the
purpose of marching against the rebels or adherents of the Earl
of Lancaster. The rebels retreated before the royal forces.
Lancaster was defeated and captured at Boroughbridge on March
16, and was executed at Pontefract a few days later. Parliament,
to which Fulk had been summoned, met at York on May 2, and
the King now turned his forces against the Scots. Fulk was
among those ordered to be at Newcastle to perform military service
against them in July ; Edward invaded Scotland without effecting
anything, and his forces were greatly harassed on their retreat.

The manor of Longnor, mentioned in the Feodary of 1316 l as
one of the Shropshire estates held by Fulk le Strange, had been
granted to him, on March n, 1312, by his first cousin, Griffith
de la Pole, 2 apparently by way of sale. The latter further quit-
claimed on February 5, 1321, all his rights in the said manor to
Fulk. 3 Longnor was settled by Fulk, by deed dated at Shrews-
bury on April 25, 1322, on his younger son, Fulk, to be held by
a rose-rent paid to the grantor and his heirs. If Fulk should die
without heirs, the manor was to pass to his youngest brother,
Hamon. 4 Fulk the younger thus became lord of Longnor, which,
consequently, is not included among the lands mentioned in the
inquest on his father's death.

| Another Shropshire manor of which Fulk at times styled
himself lord was Sutton-Madock, in which he had been enfeoffed
during his minority by his father, before Robert started for
the Holy Land. The Chartulary of Wombridge shows that Fulk
gave several grants to that priory out of this manor. By an un-
dated charter, as ' Dominus de Sutton Madoc/ he released to the
priory a tenement in Brocton, and also a meadow therein. By
an agreement between himself and Philip, prior of Wombridge,
he exchanged a mill at Hadinton for a messuage with orchard and
croft. 5

On April n, 1322, Fulk le Strange was appointed to the im-

1 Supra, p. 298. z Eyton, vi. 63.

3 Ibid., quoting charters at Longnor. * Ibid. p. 65.

6 Wombridge Chartulary, quoted in Trans. Shrops. Arch, and Nat. Hist. Soc., ix.
(2nd series), pp. 387, 388, and 415.

LE STRANGE OF BLACKMERE 301

portant office of Seneschal of Gascony, 1 a position which corre-
sponded to that of the Justices in Wales and Chester. The
Seneschal administered the province in the name of the King in
his capacity of Duke of Gascony, at a salary of 500, and reason-
able expenses when absent on duty elsewhere. Fulk's appoint-
ment was no doubt due to the King's remembrance of the good
services which he had rendered there in 1294. 2 Charles IV (le
Bel) had lately succeeded his brother Philip on the throne of
France, and, in order to effect the conquest of the Duchy of
Guienne, he sought a quarrel with the English King. The Patent
Rolls of January 18, 1322, contain letters of protection for one
year for Fulk Lestraunge in his manors of Whit church, Wrock-
wardine, Sutton, Bocton, Cheswardine, Morton Toret, Corfham,
&c. 3 Among the Gascon Rolls is a letter of April 13, 1322, from
the King to Fulk, as Seneschal of Gascony, sending him a copy of
a letter to the people of Aquitaine asking for an aid and subsidy
towards the expenses of the Scotch war. 4 On May 6 Fulk nomi-
nated John du Lee and William Datton his attorneys for three
years, as he was going beyond seas on the King's service, 5 and
the treasurer and barons of the Exchequer were directed, on May 10,
to cause Fulk on that account to have respite until Christmas
next for all debts due from him. 6 Further letters of protection,
with clause volumus, were granted to him for a year from May 12. 7
He took with him in his company Nicholas de Sanford, who had
letters nominating an attorney for three years. 8 As a safeguard
for the property which he was leaving behind, Fulk obtained a
licence, on July 14, 1322, to crenellate his dwelling-house (mansum
suum) of Whitchurch. 9 Instructions were sent to him from the
King on September 28, as to how to proceed in allaying the dis-
putes which had broken out in Gascony, 10 and further directions
as to the complaints of the King of France were addressed to him
on April 4, 1323." On the same day the King despatched a letter

1 Gascon Roll, 15-17 Edw. II, m. 15. * Supra, p. 291.

3 C.P.R., 1321-1324, iv. 50. * Rot. Vase., 15 Edw. II, m. 16.

5 C.P.R., 1321-1324, p. 107. C. Cl. R., 1318-1323, p. 440.

7 C.P.R., 1321-1324, p. 108. 8 Ibid. p. 128.

9 Ibid. p. 175. 10 Rymer's Feeder a, i. 218.

11 Ibid. i. 220.

3 02 LE STRANGE RECORDS

' dilecto et fideli suo Fulconi I'Estraunge senescallo suo Vasconie,' re-
quiring him to exact an indemnity for injuries done to his vassal
Bernard Trencaleo, ' domino terrefeudi Marconis.' x

A letter of Pope John XXII, written from Avignon on March 15,
1323, shows Fulk as Seneschal of Aquitaine ; it is addressed
to Robert Corbet, lord of the town of Morton, in the diocese of
Lichfield, and Elizabeth, daughter of Fulk le Strange, Seneschal
of the duchy of Aquitaine, and conveys to them a dispensation
to remain in the marriage which they contracted in ignorance
that they were related in the fourth degree, and declares their
past and future offspring legitimate. 2 Another letter from the
same Pope was addressed to Fulk himself, as Seneschal of Aqui-
taine, on September 13, 1323, requesting him to put no hindrance
in the way of the restoration of a little castle to Gaston, Count of
Foix, but to promote the treaty touching the same. 3 On May 30,
1323, Edward II had concluded a truce for thirteen years with
Scotland, so on June 2 a despatch was sent to Fulk le Strange,
Seneschal of Gascony, superseding the King's order to him re-
questing the nobles of the duchy of Aquitaine to come with
horses and arms to set out against the Scots ; he was further
directed to dispose of the wine and victuals purveyed for the
expedition. 4

Several original letters are preserved in the volumes of
' Ancient Correspondence,' at the Record Office, from Fulk le
Strange, in which he describes himself as ' dominus Albi Monasterrii,
ducatus Aquitanie Senescallm ' ; the earliest of these to which a date
is attached was addressed on April 26, 1323, ' discrete viro domino
Ade de lumbe, Constabulario Burd.' 5 This is undoubtedly Adam
de Lymbergh, who was appointed Constable a few weeks after
Fulk became Seneschal. 6 The Constable of Bordeaux was the
second of the two chief officers of the King, as Duke of Gascony,
and had the supreme responsibility for finance. During part

1 Rot. Vase., 16 Edw. II, m. 10. 2 Cal. Royal Letters, 1305-1342, ii. 229.

3 Ibid. ii. 455. 4 C. Cl. R., 1318-1323, p. 217.

5 P.R.O. Ancient Correspondence, 1. 7 ; see also xix. No. 7 ; xli. 55 ; 1. 6.

6 Gasc. Roll; quoted in T. F. Tout's Place of Edward II in English History,
PP- 392-7-

LE STRANGE OF BLACKMERE 303

of the time that Fulk le Strange was Seneschal he was too ill to
act, and Adam de Lymbergh, the King's clerk, sent out with him
as Constable, acted in his stead. 1

Notwithstanding his absence in Aquitaine, Fulk's name was
included in several writs requiring him to perform military ser-
vice in England, or to attend Parliament there during the year
1323. He was summoned to attend the musters at York on April 24
and at Newcastle on July I, and was commanded to raise as many
men-at-arms as he could over and above his contingent due by
tenure. He was re-summoned to appear as above at York, and,
at latest by April 18, to provide pack-saddles for the use of the
army, in case it should be expedient to advance without the
waggon-train. A writ of June 2 discharges him from attendance
at the above-named musters perhaps by that time the authorities
had discovered that he was on the King's service in France. His
name was, nevertheless, included in the writ for the meeting of
Parliament on November 20 and December 26, 1323, as well as
in one for a similar purpose dated September 13, 1324. 2 At this
time he was certainly dead. It is a little doubtful whether Fulk
died in Gascony, though his serious illness may have kept him
there until his death. Anyhow, after being too ill to act, he was
succeeded as Seneschal by Ralph Basset, of Drayton, on June n,

I323- 8

The writ of ' Diem clausit extremum ' issued on the death of Fulk
le Strange is tested at Fulham on February 23, 1324, and by the
inquisitions taken thereon it was found that John, his son and
heir, was then of the age of eighteen years and upwards. 4 By his
wife, Eleanor Giffard, Fulk had three sons and one daughter

(1) his eldest son, John, who succeeded him in Whitchurch, &c. ;

(2) Fulk, who, as we have seen, 5 had had Longnor settled on him
by his father two years before the latter's death, and also held the
manor of Betton Strange ; 6 and (3) Hamon, who acquired Ches-
wardine, by the remainder to him conveyed at the time of his
father's feoffment therein by John, son of Roger le Strange, of

1 C. Cl. R., 1330-1333, p. 101. * Parl. Writs, ii. Div. 3, 1469.

8 Gasc. Rolls, 15-17 Edw. II, m. 10.

4 Esc. 17 Edw. II, No. 73 (new No. File 82). 5 Supra, p. 300. Supra, p. 207.

304 LE STRANGE RECORDS

Ellesmere, in 1315. 1 Fulk of Longnor was deceased in 1375, and
left only three daughters to share his inheritance ; one of these,
Margaret, a nun, left her share in 1375 to her two sisters, of whom
one, Joan, the eldest, was the wife of John Careles, and the other,
Eleanor, had married Edward de Acton. Eyton states that the
line of Careles eventually ended in a female, who married John
Corbett, from whom the present family of Corbett of Longnor
descends. 2 On the death of Fulk le Strange of Longnor and
Betton, the last-named manor passed to his brother Hamon of
Cheswardine, the third son of Fulk of Blackmere, whose wife,
Margaret, survived him, and was dowered of Betton. 3 On her
death it descended to John le Strange of Blackmere, her husband's
great -nephew. The only mention which I have found of Elizabeth,
the daughter of Fulk le Strange and Eleanor Giffard, is in the
papal letter already quoted, 4 which shows that she was married
to Robert Corbet of Moreton. Eyton gives the name of this
Robert's wife as Elizabeth, but was not aware of her surname. 5

The Nottingham inquisition, on the death of Fulk of Black-
mere, shows that he held the third part of the manor of Thornhagh,
in right of his wife Eleanor, of the Bishop of Lincoln as of the
Castle of Newark. In Hampshire he held the manor of Chawton,
extended at 485., which included a hundred acres of wood within
the King's forest of Porchester, held of the Earl of Leicester in
chief by service of one knight's fee and a pair of silver-gilt spurs
yearly. 6 In Salop he held Wrockwardine by the twentieth part
of a knight's fee, and 8 yearly, payable at the Exchequer. The
extent mentions an iron mine ' et est ibidem quedam miner a ferri.'
The manor was worth 135. 4^. per annum. In the same county
he held the manor of Sutton in capite by rendering 45. per annum
at the Exchequer, and the castle of Corfham, with Culmington
a member thereof. This he held for term of his life in chief in
right of his late wife by service of a knight's fee. He further held
the manor of Whitchurch. The extent of this manor is very faint
and illegible in parts ; it shows that it was held of Earl Warenne,

1 Supra, p. 247. 2 Eyton, vi. 66.

3 Fines of Edw. Ill, m. 14 ; Dodsworth's MSS., vol. 32.

* Supra, p. 302. 5 Eyton, x. 182. C.I.P.M., vi. 309, No. 516.

LE STRANGE OF BLACKMERE 305

by the service of taking his venison throughout the lands of the
said earl in England, at the costs of the said earl. There are
payable thereout yearly to the King's manor of Aderdeleye zos.
and a sparrow-hawk, or 2s. ; and six marks to Richard de Leylonde
for life from the mill of Whit church by grant of the said Fulk.
His heir was his son John, aged eighteen at the feast of St. Paul
last [January 25, 1324].

In the summonses of September 24, 1324, to the Parliament
to be held at Westminster instead of Salisbury in three weeks
from Michaelmas, Fulk le Strange is specially excepted J he had
certainly been dead for more than seven months !

The Sheriff of Salop was directed, on June 2, 1325, to receive
from John, son of Fulk le Strange, tenant-in-chief, security for
the payment of 600 marks yearly to the King until he come of
age. 2 On August I following, by reason of the above security,
the wardship of the lands of his late father, in the King's hands
by his minority, was committed to John, to hold from midsummer
last until his lawful age, except knight's fees and advowsons of
churches, and dowers when they fall in, rendering 400 a year
at the Exchequer, in moieties at Michaelmas and Easter. Licence
was granted for the same John to marry whomsoever he will, for
a fine of 400 made by him at the Exchequer. 3

John, in later times, reckoned to be the second Lord Strange
of Blackmere, came of age on January 25, 1327, the same day as
that on which Edward III acceded to the throne. A month
later, namely, on February 26, the escheat or was ordered to cause
him to have seisin of his father's lands, as he had made proof
of age and the King had received his homage ; he held by
service of i knight's fee and a yearly payment of 8. 4 He had
already had early training at Court as ' valettus regis,' or King's
yeoman, of Edward II, apparently during the last years of his
reign perhaps when his father was seneschal of Aquitaine, and
after the latter's death ; we shall see that he soon became ' King's
valet ' of Edward III. A mandate was issued on July 12, 1327,
to the Treasurer of the Exchequer to allow to John le Strange, son

1 C. Cl. R., 1323-1327, p. 311. * Ibid. p. 291.

3 C.F.R., 1319-1327, iii. 356. * C. Cl. R., 1327-1330. p. 10.

3 o6 LE STRANGE RECORDS

and heir of Fulk, in debts due from him for the custody of his
inheritance, and for his marriage, which were granted to him by
the late King, the sum of 90 for 134 oak trees of the best \de
electo], felled by the late King in John's wood of Chawton during
his minority and carried to Porchester Castle. 1

In or before 1327 John le Strange had exercised his right of
marrying ' whomsoever he would ' by espousing Ankaret, daughter
of William le Botiler (II) of Wem, Salop, who eventually became
a co-heiress by the decease of her two brothers without issue.
Her father obtained a licence, dated May 20, 1327, to enfeoff
William Hereward, parson of the church of Weston Turvill, in
the manor of Dodynton, held in chief, and for the said feoffee to
regrant it to the said William le Botiler for life, with remainder
to John le Strange of Whit church and Ankaret his wife, in fee
tail, with remainder to the right heirs of William le Botiler. 2
Dodynton was held in capite by one-third of a knight's fee, and
was worth four marks per annum. The escheat or south of Trent
was ordered, on October 6, 1337, to deliver to John le Strange a
moiety of the manor of Assheton and the advowson of Codford
(Wilts), which he inherited from his maternal grandfather, John
Giffard of Brimsfield. 3 By mandate of March 6, 1329, allowance
was made at the Exchequer for & i6s. 2%d. paid to John le Strange,
the late King's yeoman, then detained by illness (January 9,
1326) at the manor of Hoxne, and for his fellow chamberlain,
three grooms, four horses, and the physicians Who came to him,
and to their grooms and horses for their necessaries. 4 A similar
order was made on the Exchequer on December 30, 1330, to pay
the expenses incurred in Aquitaine by Adam de Lymbergh, late
the King's Constable of Bordeaux, in discharging the duties of
Fulk le Strange, late seneschal of the duchy of Aquitaine, which
he could not perform by reason of illness. 5

On November 28 the escheator was ordered to deliver to
Hamon, son of Fulk le Strange, the manor of Cheswardine, by
reason of the death of John le Strange (son of Roger) of Cheswar-
dine, as John held it for life of Fulk's grant, and it ought to remain

1 C. Cl. R., 1327-1330, p. 142. * C.P.R., 1327-1330, p. 106.

3 C. Cl. R., 1327-1330, p. 171. * Ibid. p. 433. 6 C. Cl. R., 1330-1333, p. 101.

LE STRANGE OF BLACKMERE 307

after John's death to the said Hamon, and the King has taken
Hamon's homage. 1 The settlement of this manor on Hamon has
already been mentioned. 2

The custody of Conway Castle, with the usual fees and wages,
was committed on November 9, 1330, during good behaviour to
the King's yeoman, John le Strange, for his good service. 3 A
mandate of January 12, 1331, directs the King's chamberlain of
North Wales to pay to John such fees as were paid to others who
had the custody thereof ; 4 and another mandate of May 7 following
ordered the payment to him of the arrears of the fees belonging
thereto. 5 The King further committed ' valetto suo Johanni Le-
straunge ' the vill of Nevin in North Wales, with its appurtenances,
to hold during pleasure. 6 King's yeoman or valet was the designa-
tion of a large group of members of the King's household, many
of whom were of gentle or noble families. They might become
in due course ' scutiferi regis,' and ' milites regis,' both being higher
ranks. Personal service and membership of the household was
the essence of each class. 7

An entry in the Close Rolls of May 14, 1330, recites an inquisi-
tion concerning the lands that belonged to John Giffard of Brims-
field, late tenant-in-chief; his nearest heirs were John, son 'of
Fulk le Strange and Eleanor his wife, sister of the said John
Giffard, and James, son of Nicholas de Audley, issue of Katharine
de Audley, the other sister of John Giffard. 8 The Fine Rolls of June
4, 1327, record an order to the escheator concerning the manor
of Badgworth, held by John Giffard of Brimsfield, which manor
ought to remain by the form of the gift to John, son of Fulk le
Strange and Eleanor his wife, sister of the said John Giffard the
son, and to James, son of Nicholas de Audley and Katharine his
wife, like sister, a minor in the King's ward, and that the manor
is held of the heirs of Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester ; the
escheator is ordered to make a partition thereof into two equal

1 C. CL R., 1330-1333, P- 75- * Supra., p. 247. 3 C.F.R., iv. 198.

C. Cl. R. t 1330-1333, p. 109. 5 Ibid. p. 229.

Rot. Orig. in Cur. Scacc., 4 Edw. Ill, ii. 4oa. ; C.F.R., iv. 210.

7 See ' Household Ordinances of Edward II ' in Tout's Place of Edward II in
English History, p. 281. C. Cl. R., 1330-1333, p. 33.

X 2

3 o8 LE STRANGE RECORDS

parts, and, retaining a moiety thereof in the King's hand, to
deliver the other to the said John le Strange. 1

The manor of Middle, one of the fiefs which had been held
for many years by the le Stranges of Knockin, 2 seems to have
belonged for a short time to Thomas de Hastang, who in the
Nomina Villarum of 1316 is returned as Lord of Mudell. Eyton
says 3 that he cannot explain this, except on the supposition that
Thomas had married the widow of one of the two Lords Strange
of Knockin so recently deceased. An entry in the Close Rolls
throws some further light on this matter, and renders it probable
that Hastang's tenure of Middle had been acquired by lease or
purchase. By deed, dated June 25, 1310, Thomas, son of John
Hastang, and John, son of Robert de Felton, acknowledged that
they owed to John le Strange, lord of Knockin, 300 marks, to be
levied in default on his lands in the counties of Salop, Stafford,
and Warwick. 4 Eyton then cites a charter of December 3, 1329,
which shows that Middle had then reverted to a certain John le
Strange, whom, however, he is unable to identify. By this charter
Edward III allows ' his beloved valet, John le Strange,' to have
view of frankpledge over his tenants of Medle, with other profits
and privileges in the manor. 5 By a charter dated a year earlier,
viz. on November 14, 1328, Edward 111 had granted by special
grace to John Lestraunge, the King's yeoman, and his heirs, the
right of free warren in all their desmesne lands in Mudle, Salop. 6
We have seen John le Strange of Blackmere several times desig-
nated as the King's valet or yeoman, so I should have thought
it safe to accept him as the individual who, by some means or
other, was in possession of Middle in 1329, if it were not that the
name of John le Strange of Middle occurs, as we shall see, in
conjunction with John of Knockin and John of Blackmere in a
document cited below. It is evident, therefore, that Middle was
lor some years in possession of a separate branch of the family.
Mention occurs in the Papal Letters about twenty years later of
Edward le Strange of Middle. Henry Earl of Lancaster wrote
to Pope Clement VI in 1348 to signify that

1 C.F.R., iv. 47, 52, 108. , Supra, pp. 28, 33, 121, 210. 3 x. 68.

* C. Cl. R., 1037-1313, p. 268. 5 C. Ch. R., iv. 136-7. * Ibid. vi. 94.

LE STRANGE OF BLACKMERE 309

his knight Robert Corbet, who was rich and powerful, by reason of his great
liberality in marrying his sons and daughters, is now come to want, and has
still left unmarried an elegant and fair daughter, Amice, whom he, now labour-
ing under perpetual infirmity, purposes to marry to the noble and powerful
Edward Le Straunge of Myrdel, donsel, who is related to her in the fourth degree
of kindred ; the Earl therefore prays that a dispensation may be granted for
Edward and Amice to many. 1

A mandate was accordingly directed to the Bishop of Lichfield
to grant a dispensation, if the facts are as stated. 2 I have already
shown 3 that Robert Corbet of Moreton had married Elizabeth,
daughter of Fulk le Strange of Blackmere, seneschal of Aquitaine,
who also seem to have been related in the fourth degree. Eyton
points out that in 1383 the manor of Middle had reverted once
more to the elder line, viz. to John le Strange (VIII) of Knockin,
the right heir of the former lords of Middle. 4

John le Strange of Blackmere was summoned to Parliament
from September 6, 1330, to April 20, 1343, by writs directed to
him simply ' Johanni Le Strange,' and up to March 10, 1349, by
writs directed ' Johanni Le Strange de Blackmere' 5 In the year
1332 he was twice appointed, namely, on March 21 and on Novem-
ber 9, one of six keepers of the county of Salop, to put a stop to
the lawlessness then prevailing. 6 A grant of special grace was
made to him and his heirs on January 30, 1333, of free warren in
all their demesne lands of Whitchurch, Corfham, Wrockwardine,
Sutton, Betton, Longnor, and Cheswardine, co. Salop ; Chaw-
ton, co. Hants ; Badgworth, co. Gloucester ; and Merbury, co.
Chester. 7 He and the other keepers of Salop received special
orders, on February 4, 1333, not to do anything to the prejudice
of William fitz Waryn, keeper of the lordship of Montgomery. 8
On March 21, 1333, he was summoned ' equis et armis ' to Newcastle-
on-Tyne to repel the invasion of the Scots. 9 An order to the
treasury of February 26, 1334, directs that Johnle Strange is to have
respite for 86 45. 8%d., due to the King for his lands and marriage. 10

1 Col. of Pet. to Pope, 1342-1419, i. 133. Ibid. iii. 302. Supra, p. 302.

4 Collect. Top. et Gen., v. 180-1. 6 Complete Peerage, vii. 271.

C.P.R., i33- I 334. PP- 294, 297, 348. 7 C. Ch. R., iv. 292.

8 C. Cl. R., i337-*339, P- 88. Rot. Claus., 7, Edw. Ill, p. i, m. 19, d.

10 C. Cl. R., 1333-1337. P- 201.

310 LE STRANGE RECORDS

A deed in French preserved at the Record Office, dated July
27, 1334, witnesses that whereas Sir John le Strange has brought
an 'assize of novel disseisin' against Richard de Hangelton for having
disseised him of 300 acres of wood in Chawton forest (Hampshire),
and two pieces of land in Kateryngton, at the Earl of Arundel's
request it is agreed that Richard will surrender the said wood
and lands to Sir John for ever. Richard will only claim ' housebote '
and ' heybote ' for the tenement which he inherited in Kateryngton,
to be taken in the part of the wood called Estrenche, and by view
of Sir John's bailiffs, with common for his beasts in the said wood. 1

The Scottish Rolls for this period contain several entries
concerning John of Blackmere. King Edward wrote from Rox-
burgh on December 24, 1334, to his lieges in the different counties
of England to come to him with horses and arms, as the Scots
had levied war upon him ; among those summoned from Shrop-
shire were no less than three John le Stranges, viz. :

Johannes le Straunge de Knokyn.
Johannes le Straunge de Whitchurche.
Johannes le Straunge de Midlee*

Apparently, therefore, there was . a John of Middle separate
and distinct from John of Blackmere, but I am at a loss to identify
him. His name does not occur again in the other summonses, but
considerable doubt is thrown upon the accuracy of these entries
in the Rolls when we come to face the fact that, in the year 1334,
there was no John le Strange of Knockin alive ; John, the third
baron of that line, died in 1323, and was succeeded by his brother
Roger, fourth baron, who lived until 1349. J onn f Knockin
and John of Blackmere were ordered, on March 27, 1335, to come
with horses and arms to Newcastle for the expedition against
the Scots, 3 but on April I were held excused for not coming. 4 A
year later, namely, on August 24, 1336, John of Blackmere was
summoned to Nottingham to treat of peace with the King of France
and David de Brus. 5 There are several entries in the Patent Rolls

1 P.R.O. Ancient Deeds, B, 3481. * Rot. Scot., i. 3070.

8 Ibid. i. 3326, 333a. * Ibid. i. 3336.

8 Rot. Claus., 10 Edw. Ill, m. 16, d.

LE STRANGE OF BLACKMERE 311

of his having been placed on commissions of Oyer and Terminer
at this period.

In 1338 John of Middle turns up again. A grant of August 2
of that year confers on him the custody of the castle of Criccieth
in North Wales during pleasure, with the accustomed yearly fee
for custody at the King's exchequer at Carnarvon. 1

On November 30, 1338, John le Strange, whom I take to be
the lord of Blackmere, was prohibited, under pain of forfeiture,
from making any assemblies of armed men, by reason of dissen-
sions between John de Warenne, Earl of Surrey, and Ralph de
Wylynton of the one part, and John le Strange of the other, as
the King learns that, by reason of their dissensions, the Earl and
Ralph, and James and John gather armed men and go to the
manor of Beyton, co. Wilts, to meet in warlike fashion : all who
disobey are to be imprisoned. 2

The Close Rolls of February 14, 1339, contain an acknowledg-
ment by Ralph de Wylyngton that he owes to James de Audley
and John le Strange a thousand marks, with the note ' cancelled on
payment.' 3 In another entry of February 22 Ralph de Wylyngton,
knight, acknowledges that he owes to James de Audley and John
le Strange of Blackmere 400 ; this also is noted as ' cancelled on
payment ' ; it is followed by another entry of the same date, in
which John le Strange acknowledges that he owes Ralph de
Wylynton 400 ; this is not cancelled. 4

Rymer's ' Foedera ' give the wording of a Commission of Array
of February 16, 1339 :

q'enemys Lestranges terres sont en flote sur meer a grant force de gentz de armes,
et a grant nombre de grosses niefs et de galeyes, prestz d'arriver en Engleterre.

Ricardo comiti Arundell'. -\

Jacobo d'Audele. ) In Com' Salop de Iv hominibus J

Johanni Lestraunge. ad anna, ccxx hominibus

Johanni de Leybourne. \ armatis, et ccxx sagittis. 5

Rogero Lestraunge: s

By a patent of April i, 1339, John le Strange of Blackmere

1 C.P.R., 1338-1340, p. 121. C. Cl. R., 1339-1341, p. 573.

3 Ibid. p. 87. * Ibid. p. 95. 6 Foedera, ii. pt. 2, 1070.

3 i2 LE STRANGE RECORDS

was associated with others to keep the peace in the county of
Salop. 1 He was appointed with three others on August 24, 1340,
on the commission for Salop as taxer of the ninth of sheaves,
lambs, &c. 2 On the same day he was ordered to send his men to
Newcastle, and to set out thence to Stirling Castle, the siege of
which the Scotch are expected to renew. 3

On December 20, 1342, le Strange was summoned to be at
Portsmouth ready to sail for France with the following men on
March i next ' A mons' Johan Lestraunge de Blankmonstier, pur
xx hommes d'armes. xx archers.' 4

A grant was made on January 28, 1344, to John, son of John
Lestraunge of Blaunkmonster, King's clerk, of the free chapel of
St. Michael, within the castle of Shrewsbury, void by the resigna-
tion of Adam de Overt on. 5 He had difficulties almost imme-
diately about his tithes, as a commission was issued on February
1 6 following to make inquiry concerning the petition of John,
son of John le Strange of Whitchurch, parson of the King's free
chapel of St. Michael in the castle at Shrewsbury, showing that,
whereas he and his predecessors time out of mind, in right of
their chapel, have had all manner of tithes arising from certain
lands of those towns, he is now hindered by Lewis de Cherleton
and Philip ap Howel, portioners of the church of Pontesbury,
who claim the said tithes. 6 I am unable to fit this John, the
chaplain, into the pedigree. He cannot have been the son of the
second baron, as the latter's son of that name became the fourth
baron, and John, son of the last named, succeeded his father as
fifth baron. Who then was he ?

In July 1345 King Edward sailed for Flanders with the object
of gaining the earldom of that province for his son Edward. He
endeavoured to avail himself of the long-standing discontent
between the count and the great trading towns of Flanders, but
his chief partisan, Jacob van Arteveldt, being killed in a popular
tumult at Ghent, the King abandoned the attempt and returned
to England on July 17. On the 4th of that month John le Strange

1 C.P.R., 1338-1340, p. 279. * C.P.R., 1340-1343, p. 26.

3 Rot. Scot., i. 6010. * Rot. Franc., 16 Edw. Ill, m. n.

6 C.P.R., 1343-1345, p. 188. ' Ibid. p. 280.

LE STRANGE OF BLACKMERE 313

had been summoned ' equis et armis ' to be ready to cross the sea
with the King, he is addressed ' Johanni Lestraunge baneretto de
Com' Salop.' 1 Whether he went on this short expedition to
Flanders does not appear. At all events he was in England in
the autumn, as the Patent Rolls of November 20 contain a com-
mission, addressed to him and his cousin Roger of Knockin, to
arrest Adam de Peshale, a common malefactor, dead or alive,
who has broken his attachment and escaped ; 2 another com-
mission was issued on the same day to Robert de Ferrariis and
John Lestraunge to make inquisition concerning the trespasses
and oppressions committed by the said Adam. 3 Evidence of the
influence possessed by John le Strange at this period exists in
many entries in the Patent Rolls, showing that he procured
charters of pardon for divers people.

We now come to the brilliant campaign of 1346, which cul-
minated in the victory of Crecy and the siege and capture of
Calais, in both of which events le Strange of Blackmere took a
part. The lists of those who served therein have been exhaus-
tively worked out from the Public Records by General Wrottesley
in his monograph on the campaign, 4 and to this volume I owe
the references to the original authorities relating to the four le
Stranges who served in the royal army viz. John, second Lord
Strange of Blackmere ; Roger, fourth Lord Strange of Knockin ;
John, the King's sergeant, probably a member of the Norfolk
branch of the family settled at Fransham ; and a Thomas le
Strange, of whom I know nothing.

The first writs for the expedition were issued on August 28,
1345 ; by that for Shropshire John le Strange of Blackmere, John
de Leyburne, his kinsman, 5 and the Sheriff were appointed Com-
missioners of Array, and directed to choose 200 archers in that
county, to provide them with bows, arrows, and other arms, and
to cause them to be brought to Portsmouth, so that they might
be there at three weeks from Michaelmas. 6

1 Rot. Franc., 19 Edw. Ill, m. 4. * C.P.R., 1345-1348, p. 34.

3 Ibid. p. 35.

4 Crecy and Calais, from the Public Records, by Major-General the Hon. George
Wrottesley, 1898. See p. 248. French Roll, 19 Edw. Ill, part 2.

3 i 4 LE STRANGE RECORDS

King Edward landed at La Hougue, near Cherbourg, on
July 12, 1346, and marched through Bayeux and Caen towards
the Seine; his army was formed into three divisions, the first
under the Prince of Wales, the second under the Earls of
Northampton and Arundel, while the third was commanded
by the King himself. Next in rank to the commanders of
these divisions came the earls and bannerets. In earlier days
a banneret became so by birth or estate, and, as such, was
entitled to display his own banner in the field, and the title
was often used to designate an intermediate grade higher
than that of simple knight ; but by this time it had become
a military title, implying the command of a corps (of
varying size) of men-at-arms. This 'brigading' of the cavalry
under bannerets was one of the advances of military science of
the time. The high officers of Edward II's Court had extra
allowances if bannerets, and many of these were summoned to
Parliament, and were what we should call barons or peers.
Edward Ill's bannerets included quite humble knights, chosen
for their military proficiency. They, in their turn, had in their
retinue knights and esquires, who, with the earls and bannerets,
were designated men-at-arms, and fought in complete armour,
mounted on heavy horses (destriers). Each knight would bring
with him Hobelars, lightly armed with lance and sword, and less
expensive equipment in horses and armour, but their weapons
were good enough to enable them to fight along with the
cavalry. If armed with bows they were ' mounted archers,'
and fought with the infantry, who were brigaded separately
under centenarii and vintenarii, even if they came in a knight's
train.

John le Strange, lord of Blackmere, then about forty years of
age, fought in the second division in the retinue of the Earl of
Arundel. Before he started he procured letters of protection,
dated June 6, I346, 1 and, two days later, similar letters were
granted to his Herefordshire neighbour, Walter de Baskerville,
who went out with him. 2 His retinue, when he landed at La

1 French Roll, 20 Edw. III. * Ibid., 21 Edw. Ill, pt. i.

LE STRANGE OF BLACKMERE 315

Hougue, consisted of the following knights and esquires, ten in
number :

Brian de Cornwayle. Hamon le Strange [prob-

Walter de Baskerville. ably his younger brother].

Nicholas de Huggeford. Richard de Sondford.

Philip de Penynton. Thomas de Oldynton.

John de Lodelowe. Richard de Wetenale.

Vivian de Staundon. 1

After the defeat of the French army at Crecy, near Abbeville,
on August 26, Edward sat down before Calais, the siege of which
lasted nearly a year, from September 1346 to August 1347. A
general pardon was granted on September 4, 1346, to ' John
Lestraunge of Blaunkmonstier ' for his good service in the war of
France ; 2 and on November 16 of the same year a pardon was
granted to him for all homicides, felonies, &c., perpetrated before
September 4 last, on condition that he does not withdraw from
the King's service without permission ; similar pardons were also
accorded, at his instance, to some of his suite. 3 After they had re-
turned to England those landowners who had served through the
campaign were exonerated from the assessment on their lands for
finding men-at-arms, hobelars, and archers for the King's service ;
the writs of exoneration were entered on the Memoranda Rolls
of Exchequer. The writ for this purpose issued to John le Strange
on December I, 1351, states that he had crossed in the retinue
of Richard, Earl of Arundel, in 20 Edward III, and had served
at the battle of Crecy, and at the siege of Calais. 4 A similar
exoneration was granted to ' Sir Brian de Cornwaille, who had served
continuously in the retinue of Sir John Lestraunge from the date
of the passage to Hogges in Normandy, until the King's return to
England.' 5 A general pardon for his good services abroad was
also granted, on the testimony of Sir John le k Strange, to the fol-
lowing members"of his suite :

1 French Roll, part ii. * C.P.R., 1345-1348, p. 507.

8 Norman Roll, 20 Edw. III.

* Norman Roll, 20 Edw. Ill, and Mem. Roll, King's Remembrancer, 28 Edw. III.

5 Mem. Roll, King's Remembrancer, 27 Edw. III.

3 i6 LE STRANGE RECORDS

William, son of Hugh de Leghes, of Calverhale.
Henry le Webbe, of Blaunkmoustier.
Thomas, son of Thomas Geffrey, and
Hugh Pebbe, of Dudlebury.' 1

In the year 1347 John le Strange made an arrangement for
the marriage of his eldest son, Fulk, with Elizabeth, daughter of
Ralph, baron, and afterwards first Earl of Stafford, who was
apparently of very tender years ; an indenture of March 12,
enrolled in the Close Rolls, 2 recites that it is agreed

between Sir Ralph, Baron of Stafford, and Sir John Lestraunge of Whitchirche,
that Fouke, John's son, shall marry Elizabeth, Ralph's daughter, and shall en-
feoff Fouke and Elizabeth with 200 marks of land in Salop and Chester, of lands
which John holds, whether jointly with Enkarette his wife, or alone ; Fouke
and Elizabeth, after they are married, shall remain at John's charge until Eliza-
beth is of the age of thirteen, and John shall have ward of the 200 marks of land
until Elizabeth shall reach that age.

On the same day a licence was granted, at the request of Ralph,
baron of Stafford, and for loos, for John Lestraunge of Whitchurch
and Ankaretta his wife to enfeoff certain persons in certain manors
in Salop, to be regranted by them to John and Ankaretta, with
remainders to Fulk their son, and heirs begotten by him of Eliza-
beth, daughter of the baron of Stafford, and to the right heirs of
John. 3

A commission of Oyer and Ter miner was issued to John and
six others on July 26, 1348, touching the counterfeiters of the
King's sterlings. 4

Among the petitions to Pope Clement VI is one from John le
Strange, baron, and several others and their wives, for plenary
remission at the hour of death ; it was granted at Avignon on
November 13, 1348. 5 He died within a few months of receiving
this, namely, on July 20, 1349. The inquisition on his death
shows that he held the following lands : 6

1 Norman Roll, 20 Edw. III. * C. Cl. R., 1346-1349, p. 246.

3 C.P.R., 1345-1348, p. 258. * Ibid. 1348-1350, p. 170.

5 Cal. oj Pet. to Pope, 1342-1419, i. 142.

6 P.R.O. Chancery inq., File 98 (old No. part i., No. 78).

LE STRANGE OF BLACKMERE 317

John le Strange of Whitchurch, Badgeworth, Gloucestershire, \ of manor.
Broughton, Wilts \ of a manor as of parcel of the barony of Castle Combe.

Chawton, Hampshire.
Whitchurch, manor extended.
Doddington, ,,

Corfham,

Sutton, hamlet, extended.
La Peyry, near Corfham, lands
and tenements

FEES.

Bromcroft, hamlet.
Diddlebury,

> Salop.

Norton,
Brighe,
Peaton,

Salop.

All the above are held of the manor of Corfham.

John's heir was his son Fulk, who was nineteen years of age
at the time of his father's death. Ankaret, John's widow,
received on October 10, 1350, a grant of exoneration from the
assessment to find men-at-arms, hobelars, and archers, because
her husband had served in the retinue of Richard, Earl of Arundel,
until the King's return to England. 1 Besides their sons Fulk and
John, who carried on the direct line, John and Ankaret le Strange
had two other children : a daughter, Eleanor, who married
Reginald, second Lord Grey de Ruthin, who died July 1388 ; 2
and Hamon, whom we have seen as a follower of his brother in
the Crecy campaign, 3 and whose name occurs in the Patent Rolls,
in a pardon for a homicide obtained for him by his sister on August

5, 1381-*

Fulk, third Lord Strange of Blackmere, was never summoned

to Parliament, as he died under age on August 31, 1349, on ly fi ye
weeks after his father ; he left no issue, and was succeeded by
his brother John, then of the age of seventeen years and thirty

1 Mem. Roll, King's Remembrancer, 25 Edw. iii.

* Pedigree at Hunstanton I O. D. 5 I ; Complete Peerage, iv. 105.

8 Supra, p. 315. * C.P.R., 1381-1385, p. 33.

3 i8 LE STRANGE RECORDS

weeks. 1 The Shropshire inquisition says that he died on September
6, 1349, an d that, in addition to other manors, he and his wife
Elizabeth, who survived him, held jointly the manor of Wrock-
wardine in chief. 2 The wardship of his lands was granted on
October 13 to Richard, Earl of Arundel. 3 The escheator for
Salop was directed, on October 22, 1349, to take the fealty of
Elizabeth, late the wife of Fulk, and not to intermeddle further with
the manor of Wrockwardine, as the King has learnt by inquisition
that Fulk and Elizabeth held the premises jointly at Fulk's death
by fine levied in the King's Court. 4 A moiety of the manor of
Badge worth, co. Gloucester, was assigned in dower to Elizabeth,
and also a moiety of the manor of Brought on, co. Wilts, with
5 marks yearly of the manor of Corfham, co. Salop. 5 The
escheator for Salop was ordered to take the fealty of Fulk's
mother Ankaret, widow of John, second Lord Strange of Black-
mere, and to restore to her the manors of Whitchurch and Dod-
dington, as John and Ankaret held them jointly for their lives
by fine duly levied. 6 The escheator for the county of Southampton
was told not to intermeddle further with the manor of Chawton
as John le Strange held it for life by fine levied, with remainder
to his son Fulk, and his heirs by Elizabeth his wife. 7

John, who succeeded as fourth Lord Strange of Blackmere,
was born on January 13, 1332, as is mentioned in the Shropshire
inquisition on the death of his brother Fulk, 8 and was consequently
seventeen years old. He had livery of his lands in 1354,* and in
that year, though only just of age, his name appears as one of the
barons who assented to the nomination of proxies for treating
with the ambassadors of France before the new Pope, Innocent
VI, at Avignon, for the settlement of all matters in dispute. 10 He
married, before 1354, Mary, the daughter of Richard (fitz Alan),
Earl of Arundel, by his first wife, Isabel, daughter of Hugh, Lord
Despencer. 11 In the Commission of Array, issued to the several

1 P.R.O. Chanc. Inq., File 98 (old No. part i., No. 79). * Ibid.

3 C.P.R., 1348-1350, p. 406. * C. Cl. R., 1349-1354, p. 122.

8 Ibid. p. 120. Ibid. p. 50.

7 Ibid. p. 53. 8 Chanc. Inq., File 98 (old No. part i., 79).

9 Complete Peerage, vii. 271. 10 Fcedera, iii. pt. i. 285.
11 Complete Peerage, vii. 271.

LE STRANGE OF BLACKMERE 319

counties on November 16, 1359, f r the war with France, the first
name mentioned for Salop is ' Johanni Straunge de Blakemere,' 1
and he was in the Commission of the Peace for that county, issued
on March 20, 1361. 2 He appears to have been summoned to Parlia-
ment once only, viz. on April 3, I36o. 3 John le Strange (IV)
died on May 12, 1361, leaving as his son and heir a young boy,
who is described in the Hampshire inquisition as ' John, son of
the said John, son of John, of the age of six years and more.' 4
The ' Complete Peerage ' states that Mary le Strange died in the
same year as her husband John, but this is an error, for she sur-
vived him for thirty-five years. An inquisition ' ad quod dam-
num ' was taken at Ludlow on December 22, 1363, and another
at Bridgnorth on March 3, 1364, as to a grant to Mary, late wife of
John le Strange of Whitchurch, of view of frankpledge in her
manors of Sutton-Madock and Brockton ; in each case the
jury found that the King would lose 45. per annum if such grant
were made. 5 She appears to have been known for the rest of her
life as ' the lady of Corf ham ' ; among the petitions to the Pope is
one from Mary le Straunge, lady of Corfham, widow, and sister
of the Earl of Arundel, asking for plenary remission at the hour
of death ; it was granted by Urban V on April 9, I364. 6 On
March 20, 1367, John de Halle was instituted to the advowson
of Culmington, on the presentation of Mary le Strange, lady of
Corfham. 7 At the inquisitions held on her death in 1396 it was
found that she held in Wiltshire a moiety of the manor of Ashton,
and a moiety of the advowson of Codford ; while in Salop she
held the manor of Corfham, of which a full extent is given, and
also that of Sutton-Madock with the park (haia) of Ernestre, and
the chace of Cliva ; that she died on August 29, and that Ankaretta,
late the wife of Richard Talbot, knight, daughter of John le
Strange and Mary, who is of the age of thirty-four and more, is
their next heir. 8

1 Rot. Pat., 33 Edw. Ill, m. 7, d. * C.P.R., 1361-1364, p. 64.

3 Complete Peerage, vii. 271.

P.R.O., Chanc. Inq., 35 Edw. Ill, File 165, old No. 67.

5 P.R.O., Chanc. Inq., a.Q.D., 37 Edw. III. File 347 (7).

6 Cal. Pet. to Pope, 1342-1419, ii. 484. 7 Eyton, v. 186.
8 P.R.O., Chanc. Inq. Ric. II, File 95 (48).

320 LE STRANGE RECORDS

Ankaret, the widow of John (II), Lord Strange of Blackmere,
died on October 8, 1361. 1 On February 12 of the following year
the King gave a grant to his daughter Isabel of 146 135. 4^. out
of the farm of 400 marks yearly paid by Richard, Earl of Arundel,
for the wardship of the lands in Hampshire and Salop, which
Ankareta, late the wife of John le Strange of Blackmere, held in
chief of the inheritance of her grandson John during his nonage. 2
On June 5, 1362, the King granted to Richard, Earl of Arundel,
that, whereas he had lately had committed to him the wardship
of the lands which Ankaret held during the nonage of her grand-
son John, the said earl should have the marriage of the said John,
and so from heir to heir. 3 Subsequent to the King's grant of
February 12, 1362, to his daughter Isabel, she had married
Ingelram, Sire de Coucy, who had been created Earl of Bedford ;
the 146 135. 4^. which the Earl of Arundel ought to have paid
to Isabel out of the issues of Ankaret's lands, of which he held
the wardship, had fallen into arrear, so a mandate was issued on
October 8, 1366, directing the earl to pay up the arrears and
to continue to pay the said sum yearly until the lawful age of
Ankaret's grandson, John le Strange. 4

Elizabeth (Stafford), widow of Fulk, third Lord Strange of
Blackmere, had married before 1360 John, Lord de Ferrers, who
died in 1367 ; on June 24 of that year the escheat or of Wilts was
ordered not to intermeddle further with the manor of Broughton,
taken into the King's hand by the death of John de Ferrers,
delivering to Elizabeth, late his wife, any issues thereof taken ;
as the King has learnt by inquisition that the said John held that
manor in right of the said Elizabeth, as jointly enfeoffed with
Fulk le Strange, her first husband, of the gift of John le Strange,
father of the said Fulk. 5 Elizabeth married, thirdly, Reginald,
Lord Cobham, and died August 7, I376. 6

John, fifth Lord Strange of Blackmere, while still a minor,
married Isabel, fifth daughter of Thomas (Beauchamp), Earl of
Warwick. He was never summoned to Parliament, but died on

1 P.R.O., Chanc. Inq. Edw. Ill, File 165 (66). * C.P.R., 1361-1364, p. 179.

3 Ibid. 226. * C. Cl. R., 1364-1368, p. 246.

8 Ibid. p. 342. 6 Complete Peerage, vii. 271.

LE STRANGE OF BLACKMERE 321

August 3, 1375, before attaining his majority, and left no male
heirs. The inquest on his death shows that he held the manors
of Chawton in Hampshire, and Whitchurch, Doddington, Betton-
Strange, and Cheswardine in Salop. 1 An agreement was entered
into early in 1376 between the attorneys of Richard, Earl of
Arundel and Surrey, appointed to deliver dower to Isabel, late
the wife of John le Strange of Blackmere, the Earl's nephew, and
the attorneys of Isabel, appointed to receive the said dower out
of all John's inheritance liable thereto viz. that Isabel shall have
as dower the manors of Chawton and Cheswardine, and 50 marks
of rent yearly out of the manors of Blackmere and Doddington.
The Earl of Arundel died before the arrangement could be con-
firmed, viz., on January 24, and was succeeded by his son, also
named Richard ; in consequence the following note [original in
Latin] was written underneath the document : ' This agreement
[supplicatio] was delivered with the assent of Richard, now Earl
of Arundel, and of the other executors of the will of Richard,
the late Earl of Arundel, for the delivery of the aforesaid dowry
to the same Isabel.' 2

On the death of John, fifth Lord Strange of Blackmere, in
1375, that barony descended to his only daughter, Elizabeth,
an infant of one year of age. Her marriage had been given by
Edward III, shortly before his death, to the Duke of Lancaster
(John of Gaunt), who, on receiving an equivalent from Richard II,
granted the marriage to Thomas de Mowbray, Earl of Notting-
ham, and afterwards Duke of Norfolk. 3 On February 20, 1383,
Thomas, who was himself a minor, obtained from the King a grant
of all his lands in the King's hands, and of his own marriage, if
he marry Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Lord le Strange of
Blackmere, to whom he was affianced before his lands came into
the King's hands. 4 His marriage contract with Elizabeth was
dated March 15, I383, 5 but she died s.p. a few months later, on
August 23, in her tenth year. 6 She was succeeded in the barony

1 P.R.O., Chanc. Inq. Edw. Ill, File 250 (8).

1 P.R.O., Ancient Deeds, C, 3059. * C.P.R., 1381-1385, p. 269.

4 Ibid. p. 229. P.R.O. Rot. Pat., 6 Ric. II, No. 7.

Complete Peerage, vii. 272.

3 22 LE STRANGE RECORDS

by her aunt, Ankaret, only sister of John, thelifth lord, she being
then of the age of twenty-two years, and wife of Sir Richard
Talbot, son and heir of Gilbert, third Lord Talbot ; Richard
was summoned to Parliament, jure uxoris, from 1383 to 1387,
as Lord Talbot de Blackmere ; he died September 7, 1396, and
his widow, Ankaret, married secondly Thomas Nevill, Lord
Furnivall. By her first husband she had a son, Gilbert, who, at
the death of his father on September 7, 1396, was aged thir-
teen and became Lord Talbot ; on the death of his mother
Ankaret on May 23, 1413, Gilbert further succeeded her as the
eighth holder of the barony of Strange of Blackmere. He died on
October 19, 1419, leaving an only daughter, Ankaret, of the age
of two years, who inherited both titles, but died two years later,
on December 13, 1421. The barony thereupon reverted to her
uncle, John Talbot, her father's only brother, who, having married
Maud, suo jure Baroness Furnivall, had been summoned to
Parliament in that barony in 1409 ; in 1421 he succeeded his
niece in the baronies of Strange of Blackmere and of Talbot, both,
however, being of later creation than that of Furnivall [1295], in
right of which he had already been summoned. In 1442 he was
created Earl of Shrewsbury in reward for his long and glorious
military services in France under Henry V. The barony of Strange
of Blackmere is mentioned by Shakespeare as one of the many
titles of the great earl, in the scene describing his death at the
battle of Chastillon, near Bordeaux, on July 17, 1453 :

' Lord Strange of Blackmere, Lord Verdun of Alton,' *

The three baronies became merged in the earldom, with which
dignity they continued united for nearly two hundred years,
ultimately falling into abeyance among the co-heirs of Gilbert
Talbot, seventh Earl of Shrewsbury, who died without male issue
on May 8, i6i6. 2

1 I Henry VI, iv. 7. 65. * Complete Peerage, iii. 406 ; vii. 136, 271, 359.

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and wife
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1439. Survived her husbai
1453.

ird [Wydville], ist Earl Rivi
, Queen Consort of Edward '.

1 h. of Thomas, Lord Stanle
summoned , vita patris and ju
;e de Knocicin. Oft. May 2

;clifle] Lord Fitz Walter ; d.
Hungerford and Hastings.

toward] Duke of Norfolk.

Iordj, 2nd Earl of Cumberla

William [Stanley], 6th Earl
as heir male of the body
other honours of the fam
summoned to Parl., v.p.,
March 7, 1628, under the
of Strange of Knockin v
summons had the effect
of Strange, by writ of 162

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[RANGE OF KN

2nd wife
AUD, d. and h. of Roger d'Ej
of Walton d'Eiville, Co. War
who survived him.

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Sari of Arundel ;
husband.

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had a grant of Edgware f
life ; went to Ireland wi
Richard II in 1394.

Jacquetta, 4th d. of Rich;
and sister of Elizabeth

= Sir George Stanley, s. am
created Earl of Derby ;
uxoris, as Lord Strong
1521.

=>Anne, widow of John [Ral
Edward [Hastings] Lord

Dorothy, d. of Thomas [H

= Margaret, d. of Henry [Oil

of Althorpe.

[Egerton] Earl of Bridgwatei
or. 1601 ; ob. Dec. 4, 1649.

). 1382 ; at. 15 when he =
of his deceased mother,
:er. Oft. 9 Aug., 1449.

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PEDIGREE No. IX. BARONY OF SI

st wile
ANORA **,=. JOHN LE STRANGE (V), summoned to = M
occ. 1276, oft. Parl. Dec. 29, 1299,3$ ist Lord
s.p. Strange of Knockin. Oft. 1309.

a -|

Isolda * * *, Hamon le S., enfeoffed = Margaret,
superstfs in Hunstanton 1310; Ralph Verni
1309 and oft. c. Nov. 1317. Mottram,
1324. shire, st
1317.

= Maud * * Roger, 4th Lord Strange of Knockin, at. :
bro. ; succeeded to property of his uncle
At Crecy 1546. Oft. July 29, 1349.

= Aleyne, d. of Edmund fitz Alan, ]
m. dr. 1350. She survived her

= Maud, d. and h. of John, 2nd Baron Mohun de Dunster ;
m. c. 1369. Survived her husband, and d. Sept. 20,
1400, having m. secondly, Sir Nicholas Hauberk.

ord de Grey ; = Richard, 7th Lord Strange of Knockin ; I
succeeded his father. In 1432, in right
succeeded as 3rd Lord Mohun de Duns)

fohn, 8th Lord Strange of Knockin, 6. May 20, 1444 ; K.B.
at Coronation of Edward IV, June 28, 1461 ; oft.s.^.m. Oct.
16, 1479 ; buried with his wife at Hillingdon, Middlesex.

Joan, Baroness Strange of Knockin ; at. 16 at her father's
death ; m. dr. 1480. Survived her husband, and d.
March 20, 1514, when her son Thomas, Earl of Derby
succeeded to the barony of Strange of Knockin.

homas [Stanley], 2nd Earl of Derby and loth Lord Strange
of Knockin ; oft. May 23, 1521.

Edward [Stanley], 3rd Earl of Derby and nth Lord Strange
of Knockin ; ft. May 10, 1509 ; oft. 24 Oct. 1572.

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Alice, d. of Sk John Spencer,

2nd husband
y ; ft. 1580 ; = Mervyn [Tutchet, otherwise Audley], John
,1647. Had Earl of Cajtlehaven; beheaded 1631. m.
her second

f Derby, and I3th Lord =
ed to Parl., v.p., in his
Ob.s.p.m. April 16, 1594,
Knockin and Stanley fell
e daughters and coheirs,
they still continue in

1
Strange of Knockin, =
he succeeded ; oft.

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LE STRANGE OF KNOCKIN
I3II-I5I4

BEFORE proceeding with the history of the Hunstanton line it
will be as well to give, in a condensed form, some short account
of the seven holders of the barony of Knockin, from the third
Lord Strange until that title became finally merged in the earl-
dom of Derby by the marriage of Joan, last Baroness Strange of
Knockin, with the heir of the Stanleys, c. 1482.

JOHN, THIRD LORD STRANGE OF KNOCKIN, 1311-1323.

The inquisition on the death of John, the second lord, shows
that his son and heir was only fourteen years of age on his father's
death, having been born on October 9, 1296. 1 His father, as we
have seen, 2 died very early in 1311, and the son was summoned
to Parliament in August of that year, and several times again
during his minority. 3 He was certified in 1316 as lord of the
township of Ness le Estraunge, or Ness Magna, Salop, 4 and of
Middleton, co. Cambridge ; also as holding the lordship of Gren-
don; co. Stafford. 5 He was noticed, in an inquisition of January 8,
1318, as being a minor in the King's wardship. 6

John le Strange made proof of age on August 4, 1320, when

1 Inq. C. Edw. II, File 20 (15). z Supra, p. 265.

3 Parl. Writs for 1311-1313. * Ibid. p. 1316.

5 Feudal Aids, 1284, 1431, v. 14. Cat. Inq. P.M. VI. p. 73, No. 113.

324

LE STRANGE OF KNOCKIN 325

the escheator was ordered to cause him to have seisin of his father's
lands. 1 On February 15, 1322, he was commanded to muster
and array the knights of the lordship of Knockin, 2 but, unlike the
rest of his family, John remained in 1322 true to the policy which
every member of it had originally adopted, when Fulk and the
rest made their peace with the King after 1317-18 ; John dis-
obeyed the royal writ to fight against Lancaster, and led the
Knockin contingent to the Lancastrian army. He and Earl
Humphrey of Hereford were among the few Marcher chief-
tains who still fought against the King at Boroughbridge. A
writ of that year mentions that ' Sire Johan Lestraunge ' was a
' bacheler ' in arms against the King, and was taken prisoner at
the battle of Boroughbridge on March 17, 1322, when the Earl
of Lancaster was also captured, .and was executed a few days
afterwards. 3

By a deed dated at Knockin on March 21, 1322, John le Strange
gave to Emeric Pauncefot, as feoffee in trust, two-thirds of his
manor of Ness, with reversion of the other third, held in dower
by Isolda, his mother. By a later deed Pauncefot granted the
same to John le Strange and his wife Maud, to hold to them and
their heirs. 4

John followed the example of his ancestors in making elee-
mosynary gifts to Haughmond ; on July 19, 1322, he released
to that abbey the vivary of Wilcote ; 5 and, on April 20, 1323,
under the designation of ' Johannes Extraneus septimus de
Knokyn, dominus de Nesse,' he granted to it the ' alnetum ' [alder
wood] near the Hogh, with certain lands in Kynton. 6

The inquisition held at Salop on the death of John le Strange
(VII) bears date June 16, 1323. It mentions that his heir
was his brother Roger, aged twenty-two on August 15 pre-
ceding, but does not give the date of John's death ; the omission
is however supplied by a second inquisition, held by writ of
certiorari, on the petition of Maud, late the wife of the said John,
showing that she was in joint seisin with him of two parts of the

1 C. Cl. R., 1318-1323, p. 250. * Parl. Writs, Edw. II, vol. ii. part 2, p. 200*

* Ibid. * C.I. P.M., Edw. II, vi. 272, No. 453 ; Eyton, x. 280.

* Register of Haughmond in B.M. Harl. MSS. 446, fo. 19. ' Ibid. fo. 18.

326 LE STRANGE RECORDS

manor of Ness until the day of his death, viz. August 28, 1323. l
On April i following Maud obtained a pardon, by fine of five marks,
for acquiring (as has been mentioned above), together with her
husband John le Strange, two parts of the manor of Ness from
Emery Pauncefot, to hold in tail, with remainder to the right
heirs of John. 2

ROGER, FOURTH LORD STRANGE OF KNOCKIN, 1323-1349.

Roger, as we have just seen, was nearly twenty-three when
he succeeded his brother. He had already begun active service,
as the Patent Rolls show that he had letters of protection on
January 15, 1322, while staying with Peter de Monteforti in the
Marches of Wales on the King's service. 3 He too followed the
family tradition of enlarging the possessions of their favourite
abbey ; between 1223 and 1225 he quitclaimed to Haughmond
all his right to Thorneford Mill and the fishery of Bassmere, in
Middle, which his father had formerly mortgaged to the abbey. 4
On August 9, 1328, Roger released to the abbey the vivary or
mill of Wilcott, 5 and on the same day confirmed to it his father's
charter of the chapel of Knockin, 6 and his father's release of the
rent of two wethers (multones) payable at Caldecote. 7 On May
12, 1342, he had a licence for the alienation in mortmain to the
abbot and convent of the advowson of Hanmer ; 8 as ' Seigneur de
Knokyn et d'Ellesmere ' he made an ample confirmation on June 5,
J 343> of the rights of the abbot within the lordship of Ellesmere. 9
On the death of his uncle, Eubulo le Strange, in 1335, Roger, as
has been mentioned in a previous chapter, 10 succeeded to such pro-
perty as Eubulo held in his own right, but not to that which he
held in right of his wife Alice, who survived him. It is difficult
to make out, from the inquest on Eubulo, exactly which lands
passed to Roger, but he certainly inherited a messuage in Holborn, 11
and licence was granted on September 27, 1336, to Hugh de

1 C.I.P.M., Edw. II, iv. 272, No. 453. 2 C.P.R., 1321-1324, iv. 405.

3 Ibid. p. 67. Eyton, x. 78. 5 Ibid. p. 286. 6 Ibid. p. 375-

7 Ibid. p. 376. 8 C.P.R., 1340-1343, p. 4 2 9-

Eyton, x. 252. 10 Supra, p. 281. u C.P.R., 1476-1485, p. 45.

LE STRANGE OF KNOCKIN 327

Freyne and Alice his wife (Eubulo's widow), whom he had just
married, to settle the castle of Clifford, and the manors of Glasbury,
Colham, Edgware, &c., with remainder to Roger le Strange of
Knockin and his heirs. 1 Matters, however, were not arranged
amicably between Alice and her nephew, and it was necessary to
issue a commission of Oyer and Terminer on May 4, 1337, on the
complaint of the Countess of Lincoln that Roger, John de Lacy,
knight, Richard Rogeres chaumberleyn Lestraunge of Knokyn, and
others, broke her castle of Bolingbroke, imprisoned her there, took
away twenty of her horses, worth 200, carried away her goods,
and assaulted her men and servants. 2 The quarrel was made up
before long, and on June 20, 1337, Alice obtained licence to grant
to Roger her life estate in the manors of Ellesmere and Overton
Madok, which she held by grant of the King to her and Eubulo. 3

Roger Lord Strange held the office of steward to Richard, Earl
of Arundel, who had succeeded to the vast estates of the family
of Warenne on the death of his maternal uncle, John, Earl of
Surrey and Sussex. 4 In 1342, after the French had burnt Ports-
mouth and threatened Southampton, Roger was summoned to be
at Portsmouth with ten men-at-arms and twenty archers, ready
to sail for France. 5 He was -summoned to Parliament from Feb-
ruary 25, 1342, to March 10, 1348. 6

The name of Roger le Strange of Knockin appears among
those of the great lords who displayed their banners during the
campaign of Crecy in 1346,' and the French Roll of 21 Edward III
states that he was of the retinue of the Earl of Lancaster, 8 and
had with him William de Chetewynde of Shavington ; 9 on
August 10, 1347, i.e. a week after the surrender of Calais, ' Roger
Lestraunge of Knokyn the elder ' is mentioned in the Roll as having
letters of protection ; apparently he had fallen ill before this, and
sent for his son Roger to supply his place, as an entry in the
Memoranda Roll of the King's Remembrancer of 26 Edward III,
which exonerates him from assessment on his lands for finding

1 C.P.R., 1334-1338, p. 319. * Ibid. p. 450. 3 Ibid. p. 465.

* C. Cl. R., 1337-1339, p. 136. 8 Faedera, ii. part 2, 1216.

Complete Peerage, vii. 273. 7 Wrottesley's Crecy and Calais, p. 6.
8 Ibid. p. 117. 9 Ibid. p. 118.

328 LE STRANGE RECORDS

men-at-arms, &c., mentions that, having been detained by grievous
bodily infirmity, he had sent his son ' Roger Lestraunge the
younger/ who had served in the King's retinue until the King's
return to England. 1 Professor Tout thinks that both these
entries apply to one person, Roger the younger, and that his
father did not serve at all ; and, further, that neither of them
ought to appear in the list of great lords who displayed their
banners, because it is most unlikely that the younger Roger, who
was hardly twenty years old, should have attained the military
rank of a banneret. But it seems to me that the fact of their
being recorded as serving in different retinues is conclusive as to
two distinct persons having been present, and Wrottesley gives
other instances of sons who represented fathers unable to take the
field owing to age or infirmity, and expressly says that such
son, as a rule, displayed his father's banner. 2 Roger junior had
already seen foreign service as a lad of eighteen, when he accom-
panied his father in June 1345 under Richard Earl of Arundel
on King Edward's abortive expedition to Ghent. 3 ' Thomas le
Straunge of Knokyn ' appears, on May 18, 1347, m tne French
Roll of 21 Edward III, as having letters of protection ; he may
have been a brother of Roger the elder. 4

This Roger was twice married. His first wife, Maud, whose
surname is not recorded, is stated, in the Cambridge inquisition
on his death, to have been the mother of his son and heir, Roger ; 5
the second wife was loan, daughter and heiress of Oliver de

V * <J

Ingham ; she is mentioned in the inquest on her father's death
as being then (March 24, 1344) twenty-four years of age and
married to Roger le Strange. 6 She survived Roger, and had no
issue by him. She married, secondly, Sir Miles Stapleton, K.G.,
who died December 4, 1364, and was buried with his wife Joan at
Ingham, in Norfolk, where a brass, of which little now remains, used
to exist in Blomefield's time, bearing the following inscription :

1 Wrottesley's Crecy and Calais, p. 169. * Ibid. p. 7.

3 Rot. Franc., 19 Edw. Ill, pt. i, m. 14.

4 Wrottesley's Crecy and Calais, p. 122.

5 Chanc. Inq. p.m., Edw. Ill, File 101, No. 23.
C.I. P.M., Edw. Ill, viii. 375.

LE STRANGE OF KNOCKIN 329

Priez pour les almes Monseur Miles Stapleton, K.G., et dame Johanne, sa
femme, fille de Monseur Olvier de Ingham, fondeurs de ceste mayson, que Dieu
de leur almes eit pitee. 1

A copy of this brass, from an impression in the British Museum,
taken by Craven Ord, is given in Beloe's ' Monumental Brasses of
Norfolk,' Part iii. 2

Eyton, in his le Strange pedigree, erroneously makes Joan the
first wife, and Maud the second wife of Roger le Strange ; 3 but
it is clear that Joan de Ingham was the second wife, as she survived
him and married again. She was dowered on September 24,
1 349, with a third part of the f ortalice and hundred of Ellesmere,
assigned to her by the King out of the lands of her late husband
Roger, 4 and the lands of her own inheritance which they had held
jointly were ordered to be restored to her. 5

Roger died on July 29, 1349, an d his heir was found to be his
son Roger, then of the age of twenty-three years. 6 The manors
held by him in chief at his death were Middleton in Cambridgeshire,
Bicester, Middleton, and Tew in Oxfordshire ; Horbling and Sedge-
brook in Lincolnshire ; and the hundred and manor of Ellesmere
in Salop.

LE STRANGE OF OSWESTRY.

The names of certain le Stranges connected with the borough
of Oswestry have been mentioned before 7 when dealing with
John le Strange (IV) of Knockin ; the following names, also
connected with that town, occur during the period at present
under review : 8

Richard L'Estrange, occ. 1331, 1342
Richard, son of Richard, occ. 1352
Madoc L'Estrange 1341

Philip L'Estrange 1342

Thomas L'Estrange ,, 1342

Roger L'Estrange 1352

1 Blomefield, ix. 324. * B.M. Add. MSS. 32,478, fo. 93.

8 Eyton, x. 263. C. Cl. R., 1349-1354, p. in.

5 Ibid. p. 260. Chancery Inq. p.m., Edw. Ill, File 101, No. 23.

7 Supra, p. 181. 8 Arch. Cambr. (2nd series), iii. 38-41.

330 LE STRANGE RECORDS

IDA LE STRANGE.

Among Lord Middleton's MSS. at Wollaton Hall, Nottingham,
is preserved an interesting letter, dated April 15, 1332, of Queen
Philippa, wife of Edward III, acknowledging receipt from Ida le
Strange, her damsel, of certain crowns and other jewels. They
must have been of great value, for no less than five crowns are
mentioned, covered with rubies, emeralds, and pearls ; only one
of the five had diamonds on it, and one other was surmounted
with sapphires. Unfortunately there is nothing to show of which
family Ida was a daughter ; probably she belonged either to the
Blackmere or Knockin family. I am not aware of any other
mention of her elsewhere. The letter is printed in the ' Report on
Lord Middleton's MSS.,' issued by the Historical MSS. Commission, 1
and is so full of details of the jeweller's art in the fourteenth cen-
tury as to be worth reproduction. It runs as follows :

Ph[ilipp]e, par la grace de Dieu Reyne d'Engleterre, Dame d'Irlaunde, et
Duchesse d'Aquitaine, a touz ceux qi cestes lettres verrount, saluz. Sachez
nous avoir recu devers nous meismes en nostre chaumbre de nostre ch[ier]e
damoisele Ida Lestraunge les choses souzescrites queles ele avoit de de no [us].
... a garde [r], c'est assavoir : une corone d'or od x. fleurs de ameraudes, une
ruble en checun fleur. Item une corone d'or od x. fleurs od emeraudes et rubies
od viij perles, en chescune trosche [cluster] une rubie en la trosche, et d'autrepart
une emeraude. Item une graunde corone d'or od x. fleurs od emeraudes et rubies,
od trosches de perles, et en chescune trosche viij perles et une grosse perle en milieu.
Item une graunde corone d'or od viij fleurs de grosses emeraudes et grosses rubies,
et une trosche de xij perles et une rubie dedeinz, et une autre trosche d'une emer-
aude dedeinz, et chescune trosche od un saphir survolant. Item une graunde
corone d'or od grosses rubies, emeraudes, diamauntz, et grosses perles, la quele
ma dame la Reyne Isabell nous d[ona] le jour de la . . . ienof 1'an quart. Item
une Croix d'or od grosses emeraudes, rubies, et grosses perles. Item une ceynture
d'orfceverie od emeraudes, rubies, et grosses perles. De queux choses nous
voloms qe 1'avantdit nostre damoisele seit deschargee et quites par cestes noz
lettres. En tesmoignance de queu chose, nous avoms [fetes faire cestes] lettres
patentes. Don[eez] a Estaunford le xv jour d'Averill, 1'an du regne nostre tres-
chere seigneur le Roi sisme.

A note from ' Archaeologia/ xxxi. 377, says that these jewels
do not occur in the inventory of Queen Philippa's plate, &c.,
taken after 1369.

1 P. 90.

LE STRANGE OF KNOCKIN 331

ROGER, FIFTH LORD STRANGE OF KNOCKIN, 1349-1381.

Roger, fifth Lord Strange of Knockin, though only twenty-
three when he succeeded his father, had already seen four years
of foreign service l in Flanders and at the siege of Calais. He
married, about J-35O, 2 Aleyne, daughter of his feudal lord, Edmund
fitz Alan, Earl of Arundel, and Alice, sister, and in her issue, sole
heiress of John, Earl of Warenne and Surrey. 3 Roger was placed
on a commission with Sir John Charlton, on March 12, 1351, to
make inquisition touching those who had made counterfeit money
at Shrewsbury, and to bring them before the council with their
dies and other instruments which had been found in the river
Severn. 4 His stepmother, Joan, who had become the wife of
Miles de Stapleton, had a licence on July 3, 1351, to lease to him
all his lands which she held in dower ; 5 these and other lands
were a few days later entailed on the issue of Roger and Aleyne. 6
On March 20, 1361, we find Roger in the Commission of the Peace
for Salop ; 7 and, on February 10, 1367, he was placed on the Com-
mission of Array for the same county : 8 these appointments
were repeated for many subsequent years. He was summoned
to Parliament from September 20, 1355, to August 9, 1382, and
the Rolls of Parliament contain proof of his sittings. The Lord
of Knockin seems to have been kept pretty busy in providing for
the preservation of the King's peace on the Welsh March. He
was bidden on his allegiance, on February 10, 1367, to cause
a set number of fencible men to be chosen, furnished according
to their estate with competent arms, to march when danger
threatens ; 9 and there are many similar orders to be found in
the Rolls. 10

Richard Earl of Arundel, by his will dated December 5, 1375,
left ' to my nephews and nieces, sons and daughters of Sir Roger

1 Supra, p. 328. * Complete Peerage, vii. 274.

3 Eyton, vii. 229. C.P.R., 1350-1354, p. 81, memb. 23^.

8 Ibid. p. in, memb. 22. Ibid. p. 118, memb. 18.
7 Ibid. 1361-1364, p. 64. 8 Ibid. 1364-1367, p. 430.

9 C. Cl. R., 1364-1368, p. 371.

10 Fcedera, iii. pt. 2, pp. 820, 883, 902, 1046, 1075 ; C.P.R., 1377-1381, pp. 40, 46,
474. 513. 579-

332 LE STRANGE RECORDS

le Strange, and to my sister, Dame Alaine le Strange, wife to the
said Roger, MD marks, over and above M marks more paid to
them already.' 1 This will shows that Roger and Aleyne had
several younger children, though the only one of whom I have
found record is Roger, of whom below.

The archives of All Souls' College, Oxford, which eventually
became owner of the manor of Edgware, contain a grant made
on February 26, 1377, by Roger Lestraunge, lord of Knockin,
to his son Roger of that manor for life ; it has a fine seal with
two lions passant on a shield, under a helm, surmounted by crest,
a lion statant ; on either side, as supporters, are two lions sejant,
the whole within a quatrefoil ; of the legend round it only a few
letters are left. 2 In the account of the ceremonials at the corona-
tion of the young King, Richard II, who was crowned at West-
minster on July 16, 1377, when he was in his twentieth year,
among the ' diversi domini et magnates ' who did homage to
the King appears the name of ' Roger us le Straunge de Knockyn,' 3
and his name is also included among the Triers of Petitions during
the three years following. 4

The inquisition on the death of Roger le Strange 5 shows that
he died on August 23, 1382, leaving as heir his son John, aged
thirty, and that he and his wife Aleyne held the following : in
London, a large tenement with a garden in Holborn ; in Middlesex,
the manor of Colham, and certain rents, with a fair and markets
in the manor of Uxbridge ; in Lincolnshire, the manor of Halton ;
in Bucks, two water-mills under one roof, in Denham on the bank of
the Colne ; in Oxfordshire, the manors of Middleton and Bicester ;
in Cambridgeshire, the manor of Middleton ; in Staffordshire, the
manor of Shenston ; and in Salop and the March of Wales, the
manors of Ellesmere with its hamlets, of Strange Ness, of Kinton,
and the castle of Knockin with its demesne. His wife, Aleyne
fitz Alan, survived him.

1 Testamenta vetusta, N. H. Nicolas, i. 94.

* Muniment Room at All Souls', Edgeware, No. 3.

3 Munim. Gildhal, Lond., ii. part 2, p. 479.

4 Rot. Pavl. iii. 340, 570, 726, 890.

5 Chancery Inq. p.m., 6 Ric. II, File 27, No. 64.

LE STRANGE OF KNOCKIN 333

Roger le Strange, a younger son of Roger the fifth baron, has
already been mentioned as having had a grant for life of the
manor of Edgware. On March 8, 1382, Roger the elder and
Roger the younger were both placed on a special commission of
the peace for Salop, 1 and it is probably Roger the elder whose
name appears in a similar commission on December 14, 1381 ; 2
the younger Roger again appears after the death of his father on
similar lists, 3 in 1382 and 1384. On July i, 1392, ' Roger Straunge,
the King's knight,' had a grant of the marriage of Elizabeth, late
the wife of Fulk fitz Waryn, ' the King's widow,' if she consent
to marry him, and if not, and she marries another, then the for-
feiture or the fine incurred ; 4 apparently she did not consent,
as she married Sir Hugh Courtenay, of Huccombe, 5 so we will hope
that Roger got the fine. On July 18 he had a grant of the custody
of the castle of Newport, in South Wales, with the forest and
park of Caus in Salop. 6 Two years later he occurs as receiving
protection for half a year from August 7, 1394, as going in the
King's company to Ireland on his service there. 7 King Richard
went to Ireland in October and held a Parliament there. The
position of Roger le Strange is a good instance of the career open
to a younger son of a good house at the end of the fourteenth cen-
tury. He made his way by obtaining, through family influence,
the position of a ' King's knight/ i.e. the highest grade of royal
household officers, above the ' esquires ' and ' valets ' in personal
attendance on the King. He had the ordinary reward in grants
of land such as Edgware, of custodies such as Newport-on-Usk and
Caus, and of marriages of heiresses such as that of Fulk fitz Warin's
daughter. Of these grants some were of old lands of his house, or in
districts where le Strange influence was already strong, especially in
the March of Wales. Richard II's knights were a very powerful and
influential though unpopular body, and it was through them that
the King largely carried out his autocratic designs. Roger was
already a ' King's knight ' on August 22, 1391, 8 and it was doubt-

i C.P.R., 1381-1385, p. 141. * Ibid. p. 85. 8 Ibid. pp. 247, 496.

4 Ibid. 1391-1396, p. 99. * Complete Peerage, iii. 376.

C.P.R., 1391-1396, p. 119- 7 Ibid. p. 486.
8 C.P.R., 1388-1392, p. 472.

334 LE STRANGE RECORDS

less owing to his position as such that he accompanied Richard on
his first visit to Ireland in 1394. That King's interest in Roger
comes out in his backing Eubulo's clamour for further preferment,
and in admitting the brother's tenuous kingship to himself.
Roger's name is little if at all in evidence after 1394, so it looks
as if he either retired from Court or died at an early age.

The only daughter of Roger, Lord Strange, and Aleyne fitz Alan
whose name has come down to us is Lucy, who became the first
wife of William, fifth Baron Willoughby de Eresby, and died
before March I4O6. 1

THOMAS LE STRANGE OF KNOCKIN.

A pardon was granted on March 26, 1378, for alienation,
without licence from the King or the Earl of Chester, of the manor
of Dunham by Bondon, &c. Among the claimants was Thomas
le Strange of Knockin, Lucy his wife, and Alice her sister. These
lands had descended to John Curson and Joan de Ingham, wife
of Roger le Strange of Knockin, who, for a fine of 100, had pardon
of all trespasses. 2 This Thomas may be the same individual who
was present at the siege of Calais in I347, 3 but it is more likely
that he was a younger brother of Roger, fifth Lord Strange of
Knockin.

RICHARD STRANGE, CHAPLAIN.

Richard Strange, chaplain, was presented to the chantry in
the church of Charlton-Mackerel, in the diocese of Bath and
Wells, on July 14, I378. 4

JOHN LE STRANGE OF LEGHTON.

A release, c. 1350, from John, Lord of Leghton, to Ivo
Cresset, of a tenement in Garveston, is witnessed by ' Johanne
le Straunge de Leghton,' and ' Waltero fratre ejusdem Johannis.' 5

1 Complete Peerage, viii. 142. * C.P.R., 1377-1381, p. 164.

3 Supra, p. 313. * C.P.R., 1377-1381, p. 263.

5 Trans. Shrops. Arch, and Nat. Hist. Soc., ' Old Shropshire Deeds/ ix. 185.

LE STRANGE OF KNOCKIN 335

Eyton mentions no connection between any of the le Stranges
and Leightons in Shropshire.

JOHN, SIXTH LORD STRANGE OF KNOCKIN, 1382-1397.

John le Strange, as we have seen, was thirty years old at his
father's death ; an inquisition ' ad Quod Dampnum ' of May 28,
1372, in the Record Office, 1 shows that he was knighted and also
that he was married before that date. The jury found that there
was no reason why Roger le Strange, knight, of Knockin, should
not grant his manor of Avington, Berks, to his son John le Strange,
knight, and Maud his wife and their heirs. Maud was the third
and youngest daughter, and eventual heiress of John, second
Baron Mohun de Dunster. The covenant for his marriage settle-
ment was dated at London on June 17, 1369, and is sealed with
a cross engrailed by John de Mohun. 2 He was placed on the
Commission of the Peace for Salop on December 21, 1382 ; 8 and,
on April 29, 1385, on the commission of Array, in view of the
imminent invasion by the French. 4 The Patent Rolls contain
many entries of similar appointments between 1382 and 1396.
His mother, Aleyne fitz Alan, was still alive in 1385, as a pardon
was granted on June 25 of that year ' to Richard Earl of Arundel
and Surrey, Alina Lestrange, mother of John Lestrange, Lord
of Knokyn, Joan de Mohun, and Ebulo Lestrange, clerk, to
whom the said John le Strange granted a yearly rent of 70 from
his lands in Flint, held of the King in chief, and who entered
thereon without licence.' 5 From a curious indenture, dated
November 25, 1383, preserved among the Ashridge Muniments,
and printed in the Collectanea Topographica et Genealogical it
appears that John made terms with his mother for living with
her at Middle, and paying her 50 per annum for the board and
lodging of himself, his wife, and their household, which consisted
of one squire, one ' damoisele,' two valets, one nurse, and one boy
(garsori), and specified deductions were to be made in the event

1 Chanc. Inq. A.Q.D. Edw. Ill, File 377 (15).

1 MS. penes Sir Edward Bering, at Surrenden-Dering.

3 C.P.R., 1381-1385, p. 247. * Ibid. p. 590.

* C.P.R., 1385-1389, p. 4. Early Deeds rel. to Shropshire, v. 180.

336 LE STRANGE RECORDS

of any of them not living in the house. The document is of
sufficient interest to be worth reproduction ; it runs as follows :

Ceste endenture faite parentre ma tres reuerente Dame Alyne Lestrange,
dame de Knokyn, dune part, et le Seigneur Lestrange monsieur Johan son
filz dautre part, Tesmoigne que le dit monsieur Johan demeurera en Lostel ma
dite tres reverente dame a bouche de courte : Cest assauoir lui mesmes, dame
Maude Lestraunge sa compaigne, vn esquier, vn damoisele, deux vadlets, vn
norice, et vn garson, de la date de fesaunte de ceste endenture, tanque a fyn dun
an proschein ensuamte plenerment et comply : Rendant et payant a ma dite
tres reuerente dame pour lour demoere par le temps susdit cynkaunt liueres de
bone moneye en son manoir de Mudle a quatre termes del an, par oweles porcions :
Cest assauoir a la quinzeyne de la purificacion notre dame proschein a venir xij
li. xs. et en le feste de seynt Dunstan adonque proschein apres xij li. xs. et en le
feste del Assumpcion notre dame adonque proschein ensuante xij li. xs. et en le
feste de toux seynts adonque proschein ensuante xij li. xs. Et si auandit Seigneur
monsieur Johan, dame Maude sa compaigne, ou ascuns socues sustynauntez
soient hors de dit hostel : pour le temps tanque a lour auenue : oit rebatu de
la dite summe : pour lui mesmes le iour vi]d., pour dame Maude sa compaigne
en mesme la manere, pour Lesquier le iour iiij^., et la Damoisele attant ; pour
vn vadlet le iour i\]d. La Norice en mesme la forme, et pour le garson le iouz id. :
Et en cas que Lostel ma dite tres reuerente dame Lestraunge soit charge des
suenantz au andits Seigneur son fitz, dame Maude sa compaigne ou a ascun des
scenes susdits : autrement que nest compris en ceste endenture ; que le dit
monsieur Johan soit charge de paier pour lour demoere a fyn de chescun quart
desuis lymite : cest a dire pour un bachiler le iour viij . vn Esquier le iour vjd.
Vn vadlet le iour iij^., et un garson le iour ij^. que les seruenantz seront accomptez
par le Seneschal del Hostel ma dite tres reuerente dame que pour le temps serra
et un autre demant oue auont dit Seigneur quele il plerra assigner. Et autre ces
le dit Seigneur monsieur Johan veute et graunte par y cestes que si le dit payement
soit a derare a ascun dez termes susditz en partie ou en toute ensemblement oue
la summe de les suenantz. Chescun acompte solanc lour degree come desuis est
dite a fyn de chescun quarte susdite qe ma dite tres reuerente dame ne soit charge
pluis outre de la demoere : Et par tiele summe adonque aderere que ma dite tres
reuerente dame retigne en ses meyns del manoir de Midlynton en le Counte D'Oxne-
ford de les denieres dues an dit Seigneur monsieur Johan annuelement appaier
par ma dite tres reuerente dame pour la moyte de dit Manoir a la vraye value
issuit aderere : En tesmoignance de quele chose a cestes endentures les parties
susditz entrechangeablement ount mys lour sealx : Escrite a Mudle en le feste
de Seynte Katerine : Lan du regne le Roi Richard seconde puis le conqueste
septisme.

It is evident from the above that Middle, which for a con-
siderable time had been in possession of another branch of the

LE STRANGE OF KNOCKIN 337

family, had now reverted to the elder line, and had been assigned
to the Lady Aleyne as a dower house.

By a charter dated July 8, 1385, John le Strange, lord of
Knockin, granted to Richard Earl of Arundel and Surrey, to
Aleyne le Strange his mother, and to Ebulo le Strange, clerk, his
brother, the manor of Holborn, in the suburb of London, in fee,
with remainder to the heirs of Alice. 1 He was summoned to
Parliament from August 20, 1283, to July 18, 1397. He was in
the garrison of Berwick, and served in the Scotch wars. 2 The in-
quisition on the death of John le Strange shows that he died on
July 28, T-397, 3 and that on his wife, Maud de Mohun, shows that
she survived for three years, and died on September 20, 1400.*

Mention has already been made of two brothers of John,
sixth Lord Strange of Knockin, viz. Roger, who had a grant of
Edge ware for life, 5 and Eubulo, who was in Holy Orders. 6 The
latter was presented to the rectory of Wistanstow, Salop, c.
1373, and held it until August 6, 1385 ; 7 soon after we find him
as rector of Gresford, in the modern county of Denbigh, then in
the March of Bromfield, which had passed from the Warennes
to the fitz Alans. A papal letter of Boniface IX, dated from
Rome on April 28, 1391, conveyed the following dispensation :

To Eubulo Strange, rector of Gresford in the diocese of St. Asaph. Dispensa-
tion to him, who is of a royal race, has for some years studied civil law, and holds
also the free chapel of Hempton, in the Diocese of Lichfield, and a canonry and
prebend of Lincoln, value, together with his church, 150 marks ; on the petition
also of King Richard, who says he is his kinsman, to hold one other benefice
without cure, even a major elective dignity with cure in a cathedral, and to
exchange it and his said church as often as he please, for two similar or dissimilar
incompatible benefices. 8

I am indebted to Professor Tout for pointing out to me the
royal descent of Eubulo, which I had been unable to trace. He
writes to me the ' royal blood ' was very indirect and not very
royal, but a certain distant kinship to the royal house came from

1 Lond. and Middlesex Arch. Trans., i. 124. * Complete Peerage, vii. 274.

3 C.P.R., 1476-1485, p. 45. * Chancery Inq. p.m., Hen. IV, File 43, No. 27.

5 Supra, p. 332. Ibid., p. 334. 7 Eyton, xi. 364.

8 Cal. Pap. Let., 1362, 1404, iv. 357.

33 8 LE STRANGE RECORDS

Aleyne fitz Alan's descent from Alice de Lusignan, half-sister
of Henry III, as will be made clear from the subjoined pedigree.

I. 2.

King John = Isabella of Angouleme = Hugh de Lusignan.

Henry III. Alice de Lusignan = John, Earl Warenne, d. 1304.

Edward I.

Edward II. William de Warenne,

I 1256-1286.

John, Earl Warenne, Alice de Warenne = Edmund fitz Alan, Earl

d. 1347

of Arandel, d, 1326.

Aleyne fitz Alan = Roger, 5th Lord Strange of
| Knockin.

Eubulo le Strange, rector of Gresford.

Professor Tout has found many similar statements as to kin-
ship with the royal house, claimed, and admitted by various
kings, and traceable only through the Lusignans, e.g. Gilbert
Pecche, and Amaury de Craon. 1

The inquest on the death of his brother John shows that the
manor of Holborn, which had been granted in 1385 by Roger to
Eubulo and others, was regranted by Eubulo to John, to hold
jointly with his wife Maud and their heirs ; it was, in fact, merely
a settlement on them, Eubulo having no beneficiary possession
thereof. In 1398 Eubulo procured a ratification of his estate as
parson of Gresford, 2 and also a pardon for having, with others,
acquired from his brother John, and entered thereon without
licence, the manor of Dunham, co. Chester. 3 The last notice
which I find of this Eubulo shows that his cloth and his advancing
years did not restrain the turbulent lawlessness of his race. It

1 Tout's Edward II, p. 395. 2 C.P.R., 1396-1399, p. 321.

3 Ibid. p. 333.

LE STRANGE OF KNOCKIN 339

is a pardon, granted to him on November 29, 1411, for
having

in the parish of St. Botolph without Aldrychgate in Duklane, in the suburbs of
London, lain in an ambush and killed William Bekyngham, and also for having
on the same day and place struck the said William on the top [nodum] of the
head with a sword called a ' bastard swerd/ inflicting a mortal blow from which
he immediately died. 1

RICHARD, SEVENTH LORD STRANGE OF KNOCKIN, AND THIRD
LORD MOHUN DE DUNSTER, 1397-1449.

Richard, seventh Lord Strange of Knockin, was a boy of six-
teen when he succeeded his father on July 28, 1397, and he held
the title for fifty-two years. The custody of him and his lands
had originally been given by the King to Edward, Earl of Rutland,
who granted it to Thomas, Earl of Worcester, and another to the
use of Maud (de Mohun), Richard's mother. She shortly afterwards
married Sir Nicholas Hauberk, but died, as has been mentioned,
on September 20, 1400 ; on February 12 King Henry IV confirmed
to Hauberk the custody of the young lord of Knockin, 2 on his
undertaking to pay for it the sum of 400 marks into the Exchequer. 8

During the summer of 1403 the Ellesmere tenants of Richard,
who was not yet of full age, were involved by his steward, John
Kynaston, in the conspiracy of the Percies and Glyndwr to restore
Richard, if alive, or, if he were really deceased, to place the Earl
of March upon the throne. It appears, from a pardon afterwards
granted to the tenants, that Kynaston, under pretext of bringing
them to the King, led them to Middle, where they did not find
their lord. They would have withdrawn, but Kynaston threatened
to behead and draw and hang them, and forced them ignorantly
to go to the place where Henry Percy was, and there detained
them. Hotspur was defeated and slain near Shrewsbury on
July 23, and on August 13 a pardon was issued by Henry IV to
the Ellesmere tenants. 4

Richard made proof of age on August 16, 1404. The inquisition

1 C.P.R., 1408-1413, p. 273. Ibid., 1399-1401, p. 424.

3 Ibid., 1401-1405, p. 271. * Ibid. p. 253.

340 LE STRANGE RECORDS

taken thereon mentions that he was born at London, in the parish
of St. Bartholomew the Less, in the ward of Bradstrete, and bap-
tized in the same church on August i, 1381. l He was summoned
to Parliament as Lord Strange de Knockin from August 25, 1404,
to January 2, 1449, and the Rolls contain proof of his sitting. 2
His name appears among those present in Parliament as witnesses
to the two patents for settling the Crown on Henry IV and his
four sons. 3 Richard Lord Strange was twice married. He must
have married his first wife about the year 1408 ; the only mention
of her parentage is in the following dispensation from Pope Gregory
XII, dated at Siena on October 9 of that year :

To Richard, lord le Strange, and Joan, damsel, daughter of the lord le Grey,
of the dioceses of Lichfield and Lincoln, Dispensation to contract marriage,
they having consent of their parents and other magnates, for the conservation of
peace and concord in the realm Richard being a kinsman of Henry, Prince of
Wales and for the union and conservation of the family estates (hereditates
vestri generis), notwithstanding that they are related in the 3rd degree. 4

Two other papal letters, dated April 6, 1413, convey Indults
' to Richard Lestrange, nobleman, and Joan, alias Constance, his
wife, noblewoman, of the diocese of Lichfield, to have a portable
altar, and to choose their own confessor.' 5 There were at least
three Lords Grey sitting in Parliament at this period viz. Grey
de Codnor, Grey de Ruthyn, and Grey de Wilton ; but I am un-
able to say to which of these Joan, alias Constance, should be
affiliated. She lived until 1439, and in her will, dated on March 8
of that year, she designates herself as the ' Lady Constance
Lestraunge of Knockyn.' 6

The manor of Edgware which, as we have seen, had been
granted for life to Richard's uncle, Roger le Strange, was granted
by Richard and Constance his wife, on December 10, 1430, to
William Darell and Elizabeth his wife ; but, on June i, 1431,
Richard granted to them a rent of a hundred marks from his manor
of Dunham, with a proviso that it was not to be paid as long as

1 Chancery Inq., 5 Hen. IV, File 45, No. 49. * Complete Peerage, vii. 274.

3 Rolls of Parliament from Nicolas' Peerage.

4 C. Pap. L., 1396-1404, vi. 140. 6 Ibid. vi. 345 and 387.
6 Complete Peerage, vii. 274.

LE STRANGE OF KNOCKIN 341

they held the manor of Edgware. This was perhaps because the
life-tenancy of Roger le Strange had not yet expired. 1 This
charter bears a fine example of Richard's seal a crested helm
over a shield, bearing two lions passant, on either side of which
is a lion sejant guardant ; a different seal of Richard's is appended
to the All Souls charter, Edgware, No. II.

A commission was issued, on March n, 1414, to Richard le
Strange and seven others in the county of Salop to arrest Lollards
and imprison them. 2 A writ was directed to him as patron of the
church of Hanmer, in Flintshire, which had been granted by Henry
III to the abbots of Haughmond, and held by them until they
were unjustly expelled by one of the ancestors of Richard ; the
King now confirmed the advowson to the abbot. 3

On Easter Day, 1417, Lord Strange killed Sir Thomas Trussell
in a brawl in the church of St. Dunstan-in-the-East, London,
' excited thereto,' according to Fabian's ' Chronicle,' ' by the Devil,
and the evil disposition of their wives ' ; the following quaint
description of this sacrilege and its punishment is given by another
chronicler : 4

Ande the same yere, a-pon Estyr daye at aftyr none, the Lord Strange and
Sir John Trusselle, knyght, fylle at debate for hyr wy vys in the chyrche of Syn
Donstonys in the Este, evyn at the prechyng tyme. In the same fraye Thomas
Pedwardynne, fyssche monger, was slayne as he wolde have lettyde hem of hyr
fyghtynge, and many men wer i-hurte ; and therefore the chyrche was suspendyd.
And then was the Lorde Stronge a-restyd and brought into the Counter in the
Pultrye, and the Sonday nexte aftyr he was cursyde in every chyrche in London,
whithe boke, belle, and candelle, in one houre of the daye. And after he dyde
his penaunsse for hys trespas agenst Hooly Chyrche.

A full account of the brawl, which was begun by a quarrel
for precedency of place in church between the ladies, is given
in Bridge's ' History of Northamptonshire.' 5

The name of Richard le Strange appears in the Commission of
the Peace for Salop in the years 1422-4, 1426, 1439-41, 1443 ; and
in that for Middlesex in 1445 and 1454-7.*

1 Archives of All Souls, Oxon, 1877, p. 35 ; Edgware, 6 and u.

* C.P.R., 1413-1416, p. 178. 8 Ibid. p. 394.
William Gregory's Chronicle oj London (Camden Soc.), p. 115. * ii. 389.

C.P.R., Hen. V, ii. 458 ; Hen. VI, i. 569 ; iii. 589 ; iv. 474, 477 ; vi. 671.

342 LE STRANGE RECORDS

On the death of John, Lord Mohun de Dunster, in 1375-6,
that barony had fallen into abeyance among his daughters ; of
these the eldest, Elizabeth, Countess of Salisbury, died without
issue in 1415 ; the second, Philippa, Duchess of York, also died
without issue in 1431, while the third, Maud, widow of John,
sixth Lord Strange of Knockin, had died before 1401 ; so, on the
death of Philippa, Richard le Strange, as representing his mother,
Maud, became sole heir to his maternal grandfather, and succeeded
to the barony of Mohun de Dunster, which from this period
followed the descent of that of Strange of Knockin, until both
passed into the family of Stanley.

Richard was assessed at 6s. 8^. towards the subsidy of 1428
in respect of a knight's fee at Coleham, Middlesex, for the cam-
paign in France against Joan of Arc ; * and, on February 14,
1436, his name appears in the writ requesting loans of ' cent
livres ' from the persons there named, for the equipment of the
army about to be sent to France. 2

The second wife of Richard Lord Strange was Elizabeth,
daughter of Sir Reginald Cobham of Sterborough Castle. The
marriage must have taken place very shortly after the death of his
first wife Constance, whose will was dated March 8, 1439 ; as on
August 26 following Richard had a licence to entail Ness, Ellesmere,
and other manors on the issue of himself and his wife Elizabeth ; 3
by her he had a son and heir, John, who succeeded him. The
Inquisitions p.m. on Richard show that he died on August 9, 1449,
and that his wife Elizabeth survived him. 4 She died four years
later, on December 10, 1453. 5

A weather-worn stone shield on the exterior of the east face
of Ellesmere Church tower, on the string-course below the parapet,
bears the arms of Richard Lord Strange and his second wife, viz.
gules, two lions passant, argent, for le Strange ; quartering, or,
a cross engrailed, sable, for Mohun ; and impaling gules, on a
chevron, or, three . . ., for Cobham ; the stone is too much
defaced to enable the bearings, if any, on the chevron to be made

1 Feudal Aids, iii. 381. a Proc. of Privy Council, iv. 317.

3 C.P.R., 1436-1441, p. 307. * Inq. p.m., 27 Hen. VI, No. 29, m. 5.

5 Chancery Inq. p.m., 33 Hen. VI, File 153, No. 18.

LE STRANGE OF KNOCKIN 343

out. 1 Some branches of the Cobham family bore thereon three
lioncels rampant, others three cross crosslets, or three estoiles. 2

THOMAS LE STRANGE.

A Thomas le Strange occurs in North Wales between the years
1415 and 1428 whom I am unable to identify. The first mention
of him is in a list of payments for the protection of Wales during
the reign of Henry V in the year 1415 : 546 was paid to Thomas
Straunge and others for that purpose from March 25 to June 24 3 ;
and on April 24 of the same year the sum of 282 145. 6d. was
paid to Thomas Straunge for the custody of North Wales. 4

An entry in the De Banco Plea Rolls for 1425 5 shows that
Thomas Lestraunge, of Walton, esquire, sued Richard le Straunge
of Knockin, knight, for the manor of Middle, which he claimed
as heir-at-law of his niece, Alice, who had died s.p. 6

A commission was issued on November 26, 1422, to Thomas
Straunge, esquire, Constable of the castle of Chirk, to purvey
horses, carts, and transport to convey fifteen prisoners of France
from the said castle to London. 7 On July 18, 1426, and on Nov-
ember 25, 1427, commissions were directed to Thomas Straunge,
with others, to hold inquests as to treasons and felonies, &c.,
in Salop and the Marches. 8 Protection for a year was granted
to Thomas Straunge, esquire, about to proceed to Ireland in
company of John Sutton, knight, the King's Lieutenant of that
county [sic], 9 and on July 12, 1429, Thomas Straunge, knight,
was appointed to the office of Constable of the castle of Wicklow,
on the frontier of the March in Ireland, with the usual fees ; 10 he
must have been knighted during the interval.

1 Information supplied April 30, 1914, by the Rev. F. G. Ellerton, Vicar of Elles-
mere.

* Boutell's Heraldry (1864), p. 180, PI. xv.

Henry V by J. H. Wylie (1914), i. 546, n. Iss. Roll, 3 Hen. V.

8 4 Hen. VI, m. 308.

8 De Banco Rolls, Trinity, 4 Hen. VI, m. 308 ; pedigrees from the Plea Rolls by
Major-General the Hon. G. Wrottesley, p. 328.

7 C.P.R., Hen. VI, i. 36. 8 Ibid. pp. 362 and 467.

Ibid. p. 471. 10 Ibid. p. 543.

344 LE STRANGE RECORDS

JOHN, EIGHTH LORD STRANGE OF KNOCKIN AND FOURTH LORD
MOHUN DE DUNSTER, 1449-1477.

The inquisition on the death of his father shows that John le
Strange was born on May 20, I444, 1 and was five years of age
when he succeeded as eighth Lord Strange of Knockin and fourth
Lord Mohun de Dunster. He was summoned to Parliament
from February 28, 1467, to August 19, 1472, and the Rolls contain
proof of his sitting. 2 Even during his minority his name was
included in letters sent by King Henry VI to the lords spiritual
and temporal requiring them to attend Parliament. 3 Before
he was eighteen years of age he was placed in the Commission of
the Peace and of Array for Middlesex, viz. on December 4, 1461,
as 'John Straunge of Straunge, knight ' ; 4 and on September 21,
1462, a licence was issued for ' John, lord le Strange, son and heir
of Elizabeth [Cobham] le Strange, deceased, late the wife of
Richard, lord le Strange, knight, deceased, who is nearly of full
age, to enter into all his possessions in England and Wales, and
the Marches of Wales. 5 From the beginning of his career he was
a pronounced Yorkist. He was made a knight by bathing at the
coronation of Edward IV on June 28, 1461, 6 and was one of the
peers who took the oath of allegiance to Edward, Prince of Wales,
as son and heir-apparent, at Westminster, on July 3, 1471. 7 His
name appears repeatedly between 1466 and 1479 m Commissions of
the Peace, of Array, and of Oyer and Terminer for the counties of
Salop, Warwick, Middlesex, and Oxford ; 8 and he was appointed
one of the Triers of Petitions in 1472. 9

John le Strange married Jacquetta, or Jacinta, sister of Eliza-
beth, Queen Consort of Edward IV, fourth daughter of Richard
Wydville, first Earl Rivers, by Jacquetta, Dowager Duchess of
Bedford, daughter of Peter de Luxembourg, Count of St. Pol
and Conversan. 10

1 Chancery Inq., 27 Hen. VI, File 134, No. 29.

* Complete Peerage, vii. 274 ; viii. 516.

3 Proc. Privy Council, vi. 282 and 292. * C.P.R., 1461-1467, p. 567.

6 Ibid. p. 200. Metcalfe's Book of Knights, p. 3.

7 Rolls of Parliament, Nicolas' Peerage. 8 C.P.R., Edw. IV, passim.
9 Rolls of Parliament. 10 Complete Peerage, vii. 274.

LE STRANGE OF KNOCKIN 345

The church of Hanmer, in Shropshire, was given by John Lord
Strange to the abbot of Haughmond on December i, 1476, for
the endowment of a perpetual chantry there, with a daily Mass
to be said on the altar of St. Anne, mother of the Virgin, for the
souls of John and his wife Jacinta, of Richard, late Lord Strange,
and Elizabeth his wife, parents of John, and of Constancia,
former wife of the said Richard. Provided that, if the church of
Hanmer should, by the rebellion of the Welsh or otherwise, be
destroyed, so that it should not exceed the annual value of 10
marks, then the said chantry should cease until the value of the
said church exceeded that sum. 1 The above transaction affords
some criterion of the difference in the value of money in the
second half of the fifteenth century. If we put these 10 marks
as the equivalent of the pay of a curate nowadays (A.D. 1914),
say, 150 a year, it works out :

i mark in 1476 =15 os. od. in 1914.
xxs. ,, =22 los. od. ,,

is. =1 2s. 6d.

or an appreciation of 22 J times.

A commission was issued on February 13, 1477, to ' John
Straunge of Straunge, knight/ he being named first with sixteen
others to inquire by oath into the capture of swans and cygnets
on the Thames and its tributaries ' from Cirencestre to its mouth,
by hooks, nets, lyme strynges, and other engines, the alteration
and deletion of the marks of swans, and the taking of swans' eggs,
and to arrest and imprison the offenders.' 2

John Lord Strange died without male issue on October 16,
1479, leaving as his heiress an only daughter, Joan, 3 who, thirty
years later, caused to be erected in Hillingdon Church, Middlesex,
a marble tombstone with a brass to the memory of her father
and mother. The inscription no longer remains, but has been
preserved by Weever, and was existing when he wrote in 1631.*

1 Chartulary of Haughmond, fo. 856 and 86. * C.P.R., 1476-1485, p. 24.

3 Chancery Inq., Edw. IV, File 70, No. 39.

* Ancient Funeral Monuments within Great Britain, &>c., ist ed. of 1631, p. 530.

346 LE STRANGE RECORDS

It was probably on a brass fillet running round the edge of the
marble slab, like that of Sir Roger le Strange in Hunstanton
Church, which is of nearly the same date. The inscription given
by Weever is as follows :

Sub hac tumba iacet nobilis JOHANNES dominus le STRANGE, dominus de
Knocking, Mohun, Wasset, Warnell, et Lacy, et dominus de Colham, vna cum
pictura JACNETTE, quondam uxoris sue ; que quidem JACNETTA fuit soror ELIZA-
BETHE regine Anglie, quondam uxoris regis EDWARDI quarti, qui quidem JOHAN-
NES obiit 15 die Octobris, anno regni regis EDWARDI quarti 17, quam quidem
tumbam JOHANNA, domina le Strange, vna cum pictura JACNETTE ex sump-
tibus suis propriis fieri fecit 1509.

The marble slab and brass was removed for its better preserva-
tion some years ago from its original position, and fixed to the
wall on the north side of the door leading from the church to the
vestry. It will be noticed that the date of John's death given
on the tomb, erected thirty years after that event, is October 15,
77 Edward IV, i.e. 1477, whereas the verdict of the jury on the
spot, given at the inquest held at the time, says that he died on
October 16, 79 Edward IV, i.e. 1479. By the kind permission
of the Monumental Brass Society, I am able to give a reduced
copy of their rubbing of the brass. 1

JOAN, BARONESS STRANGE OF KNOCKIN AND
MOHUN DE DUNSTER, 1479-1514.

Joan le Strange is stated, in the inquisition on her father's
death, to have been sixteen years old and more when she inherited
from him the two baronies of Strange of Knockin and Mohun de
Dunster ; as was to be expected in the case of so great an heiress,
she married shortly after her father's death, probably in 1480 ; at
all events she was married before February 26, 1481, as the Patent
Rolls of that date contain a licence for George Stanley, knight,
and Joan his wife, daughter and heiress of John Lestraunge,
knight, late Lord Lestraunge, to enter freely into all castles,
manors, and other possessions in England, Wales, and the Marches

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LE STRANGE OF KNOCKIN 347

of Wales, late of the said John, which should descend to her after
his death. 1 Joan's husband, Sir George Stanley, was son and
heir of Thomas, Lord Stanley, afterwards created Earl of Derby
by Henry VII, out of gratitude for Thomas's timely treason at
the battle of Bosworth, where he is said to have picked up the
Crown and placed it on Henry's head. George Stanley's life had
been up to that day in great danger, since he was held by King
Richard as a hostage for his father's loyalty. In right of his
wife he was summoned to Parliament as a baron during his father's
lifetime, by writs directed ' Georgia Stanley de la Strange,' from
November 15, 1482, to January 26, 1497. He was a privy coun-
cillor, and made Knight of the Garter in May 1487. He died,
patre vivente, on December 5, 1497, at Derby House, London (on
the site of the present College of Arms) . z His widow Joan, Baroness
Strange, survived until March 20, 1514, and on her death her
son Thomas, who had succeeded to the earldom of Derby ten
years before, inherited his mother's baronies of Strange of Knockin 3
and Mohun de Dunster, which thenceforth were merged in the
earldom until the death of Ferdinando, the fifth earl, without
male issue, on April 16, 1594 ; his brother, William Stanley, as
heir male of the body of the grantee, succeeded to the earldom,
but not to the older honours of the family, which fell into abeyance
between Ferdinando's three daughters and co-heirs, among whose
representatives the barony of Strange of Knockin still remains
in abeyance.

BARONY OF STRANGE BY WRIT OF 1628.

Thirty-four years later, viz. in 1628, James Stanley, eldest
son of the sixth earl, was summoned to Parliament, vita patris, by
writ directed to him as Jacobo Stanley de Strange, Chl'r,' under
the erroneous belief that the barony of Strange of Knockin [of 1299]
was vested in his father, and he was even placed in the precedency
of that ancient barony, though this precedency was subsequently

1 Pat. Rolls, Edw. IV, No. 27. * Complete Peerage, iii. 69, 70.

1 Chancery Inq., 6 Hen. VIII, File 79, No. 159.

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PEDIGREE X. THE BJ

BY WRIT (

1 h. of William, 6th Earl of Derby, was summoned
, under the erroneous belief that the barony of St
in his father. This had the effect of a new ere
>f 1628, which became merged in the earldom of E
:d as 7th earl in 1642. He was beheaded Oct. 15,

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ceeded as 6th 1
Ob.s.p. Feb. i,

2-1

Jaron Ashburnham ; Elizabeth Stanley, James [M
Is Earl of A. ; ob. d. unm. April 23, Sept. 2
, 1737. 1714. cousin
7th Lc
baron
s.p.m. .

Charlottt
Baron
1805.

n [Murray], 4th Duke of Athole; 6. June 30, 1755 ;
ppt. to his mother's English barony of Strange he
.ug. 18, 1786, created Earl Strange ; succeeded hi
\ 1805 as gth Lord Strange. Ob. Sept. 29, 1830.

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s. Fredk. John [Murray], 6th Duke of Athole, 3rd =
nge, and nth Lord Strange ; b. Sept. 20, 1814 ; ob.
[864.

mes Hugh Henry [Murray], 7th Duke of Athole, 4th
Strage, and rath Lord Strange ; b. Aug. 6, 1840
ties 1916.

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LE STRANGE OF KNOCKIN 349

disallowed. The effect of this writ was to create, in the Stanley
family, a new barony of Strange, with precedency of 1628. This
new peerage in its turn fell into abeyance on the death of William
George Richard, ninth Earl of Derby and third Lord Strange,
without male issue on November 5, 1702, between his two daughters
and co-heirs. The younger of these died without issue in 1714,
when the barony of Strange devolved upon her sister Henrietta,
then the wife of John, Lord Ashburnham ; she too died without
male issue on June 26, 1718, and the barony was inherited by her
only surviving daughter, Lady Henrietta Bridget Ashburnham,
who died unmarried on August 8, 1732, in her sixteenth year.
The title then reverted to the Stanleys, in the person of the great-
uncle of the deceased baroness, as heir general, viz. James, next
brother to William George Richard, ninth Earl of Derby and third
Lord Strange, who had himself on November 5 succeeded his said
brother as tenth Earl of Derby, and now became sixth Lord Strange.
He died without issue on February i, 1736, aged 71, when the
earldom of Derby devolved on his cousin Edward Stanley, who
became eleventh earl, but the barony of Strange, with the lordship
of the Isle of Man and most of his other large estates, passed to
the heir general, James Murray, second Duke of Athole, grandson
of Amelia Sophia, daughter, and in her issue sole heir, of James
Stanley, seventh Earl of Derby and first Lord Strange of the new
creation. He sat in the British Parliament as a representative
peer for Scotland in 1733, and in 1737 was summoned by writ as
Lord Strange, and sat both as an English baron and a Scotch
representative peer. James, the second duke, died without male
issue in 1764, leaving an only surviving daughter, Charlotte,
suo jure Baroness Strange, who married her first cousin, John
Murray, third Duke of Athole ; she survived her husband, who
died in 1774, and was succeeded by their son John as fourth duke.
He, being at that time heir-apparent to his mother's English
barony of Strange, was created, on August 18, 1786, Earl Strange
in the peerage of Great Britain, and by that title the Dukes of
Athole sit to-day in the House of Lords. Charlotte, Duchess
of Athole and Baroness Strange, survived until 1805, an d her
great-great-grandson, the present Duke of Athole, enjoys, merged

350 LE STRANGE RECORDS

among his many titles, the barony of Strange of the creation of
1628, of which he is the twelfth holder. 1

Mr. Cockayne remarks that :

long after the barony of Strange had passed from the family of Stanley, Earls
of Derby, in 1736, the style of LORD STRANGE continued to be assumed as the
courtesy title of the heir-apparent of those earls during the eighteenth century.

1 Complete Peerage, i. 187-191 ; iii. 73-75 ; vii. 269-271.

CHAPTER X

SUMMARY AND GENERAL REMARKS

IN the preceding chapters we have traced the story of the
family of le Strange from its first appearance in Norfolk, circa
noo, and its more important enfeoffments, a generation later,
on the Welsh March in what is now the county of Shropshire.
Some legendary stories as to its origin have been refuted, notably
that of the descent from an imaginary Duke of Brittany ; it has
been shown that the family did not come over with the Conqueror,
but that the first of the name who settled in England did marry
the daughter and heiress of the Domesday tenant of lands at
Hunstanton which are still in the possession of her descendants ;
the first settler came, not from Normandy, but from Anjou, and
his very name points to the conclusion that even in his Angevin
home he was reckoned to be of foreign extraction. The politics
of the time are reflected in their transfer, with other Angevin
families, by Henry of Anjou to the borderland of Wales, but they
held on to their Norfolk property, and evidence has been given
showing that, occasionally at least, they visited Hunstanton
during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. In the wars of the
barons, and especially during the Welsh wars, they played a not
unimportant part in the history of the time as a typical Marcher
family, following nearly always the general movements which
led the Marcher lords to take a decided line of their own, and
that not always a consistent one, in the great problems of politics.
The first John le Strange was one of four brothers who, during
the reign of Henry II, were enfeoffed by that King in the manors

351

352 LE STRANGE RECORDS

of Ness, Cheswardine, Alveley, Little Ercall, Betton, Osbaston,
Ruyton, Middle, and other places, all within the borders of
modern Shropshire. Hamon, the second son of the founder,
Roland le Strange, had done good service to Henry before
he came to the throne, and consequently was the first of the
family to receive a fief, namely, the manor of Cheswardine.
Guy le Strange, the third brother, founded Knockin Castle,
within the manor of Osbaston, and in 1160 succeeded William
fitz Alan (I) in the important office of Sheriff of Salop ; in that
capacity he was, during the frequent absence of King Henry on
the Continent, responsible for the peace and safety of the middle
March, and he rendered useful and loyal service to the Crown by
holding the royal castles of Bridgnorth and Shrewsbury during
the formidable rebellion of the King's sons in 1173-4. Ralph,
the youngest of the four le Stranges, was employed in a position
of trust as custodian of the King's silver mines at Carreghova.
Thus we see that in the course of only one generation the family
of le Strange had established themselves firmly as lords of many
manors on the Welsh March, received in reward for strenuous
service to Henry II. Too little has come down to us concerning
these four brothers to enable us to form any estimate as to their
personality, but the way in which, new-comers as they were,
they succeeded in pushing themselves to the front, proves that
they must have been possessed of considerable force of character
as well as strength of arm, and their conduct and career laid a
firm foundation for the future fortunes of the family.

The second John le Strange had been in public life for some
years before he succeeded his father in 1179, and for the long
period of fifty-six years he successively served under Henry II,
Richard I, John, and Henry III, as one of the Marcher lords in
the debatable land of the Welsh border. During Richard's reign
we have seen him assisting his dying cousin Ralph of Alveley
in the protection of the royal mines at Carreghova, but he found
time to prosecute at least three lawsuits in which he was engaged,
showing that he was as tenacious of his own private rights as
he was assiduous in the performance of his public duties. After
the death of his uncle, Guy le Strange of Alveley and Knockin,

SUMMARY AND GENERAL REMARKS 353

John effected an arrangement with the heiresses who had inherited
that frontier fortress, whereby he acquired possession of it, and
immediately afterwards we find him styling himself lord of Knockin ;
the growing importance of the position caused it thenceforth to
be regarded as the principal seat of the elder branch of the family.
During the years of King John's quarrel with the Pope, 1205 to
1213, John le Strange did not side with most of the other barons
against his sovereign, but occupied himself with holding the Marches
for the King against the Welsh princes who had allied themselves
with the barons of England. Even when the misdeeds of John
compelled the barons to extort from him the great charter of their
liberties, John le Strange did not waver in his allegiance ; his name
appears as one of the only four knights on the border who had
never borne arms against their sovereign : yet he so conducted
himself as not to lose the respect or to incur the enmity of the
barons, and, after the accession of Henry III, he even received
marks of favour from those who ruled the councils of the young
King ; for instance, he was granted an ' aid ' from the counties
of Salop and Stafford to enable him to strengthen the fortifications
of Knockin Castle, an object for which further provision was made
by the King five years later. During these years le Strange was
frequently employed as the King's representative in negotiating
and enforcing the observance of truces with the Welsh, and also
as Justiciar in settling disputes between them and the Crown.
Towards the. close of his life his long and faithful services to
King Henry and his father were rewarded by the grant in fee of
the manor of Wrockwardine. His son, John le Strange, junior,
entered public life during his father's lifetime ; he accompanied
the King to Gascony in 1230, an expedition made with the object
of recovering the lost provinces of the Crown. The long career
of John (II), passed in steady and exemplary service on the border-
land of Wales, consolidated the fortunes of his house, and enabled
him to hand on to his son an example of the faithful performance
of feudal duties and obligations.

John le Strange (III) had already served an apprenticeship of
twenty years in public life when he succeeded his father in 1233-4.
He was made Constable of Montgomery Castle in 1235, wa s Sheriff of

2 A

354 LE STRANGE RECORDS

Salop and Stafford from 1236 to 1245, and was frequently employed
in settling disputes as to infractions of the truce with Llewelyn
the Great, which he managed to effect without having recourse
to arms. In 1240 he was appointed to the high office of Justice
of the Palatine County of Chester, and as such occupied the posi-
tion of a viceroy, representing the earl, who was also the King.
The confidential relation in which he stood to his sovereign is
shown by the patent of February 13, 1241, binding him, in the
event of Henry's death, to deliver the castles in his custody to
Queen Eleanor and her infant son Edward. John le Strange
was practically military governor of the whole of the north March,
and the measures taken by him consolidated the King's power
in North Wales, and prepared the way for the future conquest
of the country by Edward I. Le Strange's eldest son, John,
and his second son, Hamon, are first mentioned in the year 1253.
Hamon served under the King during the expedition of that and
the following year to Gascony, and received marks of the royal
favour there ; on his return home he was employed on the King's
service in Scotland. The quarrel between Henry and the barons
broke out in 1258. John le Strange the elder and Hamon re-
mained faithful to the King, but John the younger at first espoused
the cause of the barons; he soon attached himself to the party
of Prince Edward, and was one of those who aided him in break-
ing up the baronial group which had ruled the country since
the ' Provisions of Oxford.' In 1262 Hamon was an adherent of
Simon de Montfort, as also were several of the King's friends,
but when Prince Henry took up arms against the barons in 1263,
Hamon le Strange was among those who went over to the King's
side ; the Lords Marcher, as a body, changed front and rallied
round Prince Edward, and had an important influence on the
struggle. Hamon received the appointment of Sheriff of Shrop-
shire and Stafford, with the custody of the border castles. He
was present at the defeat of the royal forces at Lewes on May 14,
1264, but escaped from the field with Prince Edward, and raised
a new force against de Montfort on the Welsh March. Hamon
and his fellow Marchers continued in arms all the winter. In the
spring of 1265 Prince Edward, who had surrendered himself after

SUMMARY AND GENERAL REMARKS 355

Lewes, effected his escape and joined the royalist army, which
ended the struggle by defeating de Montfort at Evesham. For
these services rewards were showered on Hamon le Strange, but
a peaceful life at home was not to his liking ; his subsequent
career, his joining the crusade of 1270, his marriage with the
Queen of Cyprus, and his death in the Holy Land, have been
narrated in Chapter IV. John le Strange the elder must have
been about seventy years of age at the date of the battle of Eves-
ham, and was consequently too old to take an active part in the
final campaign. He died early in 1269, after a strenuous life of
consistent adherence to his allegiance.

John le Strange (IV), whom we have seen in active public life
for some twenty years before he succeeded his father in 1269,
had a much shorter tenure of the lordship of Knockin than any
ot his predecessors, as he was accidentally drowned six years
after he came into possession. During those six years England
was practically without a King ; Henry III was in his dotage,
and Edward I absent in the Holy Land. John's marriage with
Joan de Somery, daughter of the co-heiress of the last Albini,
Earl of Arundel, brought him a considerable accession of property.
If there is little to be said of him in consequence of his premature
death, his brothers upheld the fighting record of the family, and
his sister, Hawyse, added influence to it by her marriage with
the Prince of Upper Powys. Of Hamon, the crusader, sufficient
mention has already been made. Roger of Little Ercall, the
third son of John (111), had fought in early life against Simon
de Montfort. During the first Welsh war of Edward I he served
under Roger de Mortimer in the army of the middle March. Morti-
mer died in the early part of the second Welsh war, and Roger
le Strange succeeded him in command of the royal forces near
Builth, and won the battle of Orewin Bridge, at which Llewelyn
was slain. His intimate local knowledge of the country, and
perhaps his connection with the Welsh magnates through the
marriage of his sister Hawyse with Griffith ap Gwenwynwyn;
caused him to be selected by King Edward as commander of the
expedition sent to suppress the subsequent rising of Rhys ap
Maredudd in 1287, and again his services were similarly employed

2 A 2

356 LE STRANGE RECORDS

in the third and last rising of the Welsh in 1294. Soon after the
death of his brother Hamon, Roger had received from the King
a grant for life of the castle and manor of Ellesmere which had
been held by Hamon, and he was the first of his family to be
summoned to Parliament, viz. in 1295, as ' dominus de Ellesmere/
and under that designation he sealed the famous letter of 1301
to the Pope.

Roger's nephew, John (V) of Knockin, appears to have in-
herited the fighting qualities of his race, but did not rise to the
same distinction of independent command as did his uncle ;
during the Welsh wars John frequently served under the orders
of Roger, or, in the phrase of the day, was directed to ' be in-
tendant to him.' His services were especially recognised by
Edward as having been rendered spontaneously and gracefully,
over and above what was required from him by the obligations
of his tenure. After the conclusion of the Welsh wars John le
Strange led some of his Marcher tenants to fight in Gascony for
King Edward, who had a very high opinion of the value of the
Welsh troops. John's estates were not confined to the original
holdings of his family in Salop and Norfolk ; he held manors
in several other counties. Through his grandmother, Nicola de
Albini, he possessed part of the manor of Olney in Northampton-
shire, and he also had lands in the counties of Stafford, Cambridge,
Oxford, Warwick, and Gloucester. Yet the income from these
extensive estates did not suffice to defray the expenses to which
he was frequently put in raising and maintaining forces for the
service of the Crown, and he was often reduced to the necessity
of borrowing money from the Jews and Lombards.

John le Strange served in Gascony in the expedition of 1296
under the King's brother, Edmund Crouchback, Earl of Lancaster,
but returned in a year or two as his services were more required
in the Scotch wars, in which he was constantly employed up to
the death of King Edward in 1307. Peerage lawyers of a later date
regard the barony of Strange of Knockin as having been created
by the summons, issued from Berwick-upon-Tweed on December
29, 1299, directing John le Strange (V) to attend the Parliament
at London on February 27 following. His arms are blazoned

SUMMARY AND GENERAL REMARKS 357

among those of the knights recorded in the contemporary poem
on the siege of Caerlaverock in 1300, and it was as lord of Knockin
that he sealed the barons' letter of the following year to the Pope.
Evidence has been given showing that John's daughter Elizabeth
was the grandmother of the Welsh hero, Owen Glendower. John
was summoned to the coronation of Edward II, and also to take
part in an intended expedition against Scotland, and his son John
was also in the King's service at the same time. In 1309 we find
John (V), as Sheriff of Shropshire, employed in carrying out the
severe measures against the Templars, and the Roll of Arms of
the tournament of Stepney gives us a glimpse of him as one of
three le Strange knights present there on May 28 of that year.
In August 1309 he was ordered to raise a hundred men from the
neighbourhood of Knockin for service against the Scots, but he
died early in that month, probably in the camp at Berwick, having
taken part in each of the campaigns of Edward I in Wales, Gascony,
and Scotland.

Roger le Strange, uncle of John (V), survived his nephew for
about two years, but his fighting days had been over for some
time ; he had served in even more campaigns than John, and in
some had been entrusted with supreme command of the royal
forces. In the wars of the barons he had fought on the King's
side against Simon de Montfort, had effected his escape, subse-
quent to the defeat of Lewes, and after contributing to the victory
at Evesham, he received substantial grants of land and valuable
offices in reward, notably the hundred and castle of Ellesmere,
the shrievalty of the county and castle of York, and the custody
of the Castle of the Peak of Derby. In right of his first wife,
Maud, widow of Roger de Mowbray, and daughter and co-heiress
of William de Beauchamp, he acquired further lands in Bedford-
shire. He played a prominent part, as we have seen, in all three
of the Welsh wars of Edward I, and his activities even extended
to Ireland. His great services were requited by a grant of the
important and onerous office of Justice of the Forest south of
Trent, the discharge of the multifarious duties of which obliged
him to be always on the move through the Midlands and all the
southern counties of England. The expenses attendant thereon

358 LE STRANGE RECORDS

were not covered by the profits, and like his nephew and others
of the family, he had to have recourse to loans. Roger's abilities
were held in such high esteem by Edward I that he was sent as
one of two envoys to Rome to obtain from the Pope recognition
of the dependence of the Scottish Crown on that of England ;
his diplomatic efforts succeeded in obtaining from Nicholas IV
a confirmation of this recognition. He appears to have spent
about a year in Rome ; on his return he resumed work as Justice
of the Forest. His administration of the Forest Laws was con-
ducted on somewhat more liberal principles than had been formerly
the case, in that he afforded facilities for obtaining enclosures by
private individuals in the royal forests. In 1297 he was relieved
of his functions as Justice, probably owing to failing health, and
for the remainder of his life he was unable to discharge any active
duties ; but it is satisfactory to find that his past services were
recognised by many marks of favour from the King, who, after
Roger's death, which occurred on July 31, 1311, made provision
for the fitting observance of his obsequies, and even granted a
pension to his second wife, who survived him for more than
twenty-five years. In Roger le Strange the characteristics and
capacity shown by so many of his race reached, perhaps, their
culminating point. As a soldier he was both a strenuous fighter
and a good tactician. In civil life he discharged the duties of
many diverse offices sheriff, justice, and ambassador to the
advantage of his King and country, which were fully recognised
and honoured by three successive sovereigns, and though his
closing years were clouded by disease, he must have derived
satisfaction from the continuance of the royal favour. The pity
is that he left no legitimate descendants to carry on his honours
and found a new branch of the family of which he was such a
worthy representative.

John le Strange (VI), second Lord Strange of Knockin, only
enjoyed his honour and estates for about eighteen months. It
has been shown that, during his father's lifetime, he had seen
service in the Scotch wars. Immediately after his father's death
he was summoned to Parliament, but Edward II abandoned the
prosecution of his projected campaign against Scotland, and

SUMMARY AND GENERAL REMARKS 359

John was notified that the hundred men from Knockin, whom his
father had been ordered to find, would not be required. The
important arrangement by which a younger branch of the family,
which eventually outlived the elder line, was settled at Hunstan-
ton, has been given in full detail in Chapter VII, and a sketch
has been given in Chapter IX of the history of the subsequent
lords of Knockin, until the merger of the title in the earldom
of Derby in 1514. John (VI) died early in 1311, at the age
of twenty-nine. Besides his brother Hamon of Hunstanton he
left another brother, named Eubulo, who attained to some
distinction as a fighter, and was the fourth of his House to be
summoned to Parliament as a baron. His name first appears
in 1313 as one of the adherents of the Earl of ^Lancaster, son
of Edmund Crouchback, in the events which brought about
the death of Ga vest on. After the execution of Lancaster in
1322 Eubulo married his widow, Alice, and through her acquired
extensive manors and castles in many parts of the kingdom. She
was the daughter and heiress of Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln,
and in her own right Countess of Lincoln through her father, and
also Countess of Salisbury through her mother. Two years after
his marriage Eubulo was appointed by Edward II to the Constable-
ship of Lincoln Castle, and was summoned to Parliament among
the barons. From Edward III, in the early years of his reign,
Eubulo and Alice received many marks of favour ; Alice was
confirmed in the possession of considerable portions of the estates
of her first husband which had been forfeited by his treason. In
1332 Eubulo was relieved of his functions as Constable of Lincoln,
and was employed by the King next year in his invasion of Scot-
land, being present at the siege of Berwick and the battle of
Halidon Hill. For his services he received a grant of the castle
of Builth, in Wales, from whence he brought 2000 Welsh foot-
men and 20 men-at-arms to assist Edward in his invasion
of Scotland in 1335. Eubulo lost his life during the campaign
there in the summer of that year, and as he left no children his
honours perished with him, while such lands as he held in fee in
his own right passed to his nephew and heir, Roger, fourth Lord
Strange of Knockin.

360 LE STRANGE RECORDS

It remains now to make some mention of the le Stranges of
the House of Blackmere ; they were descended from Robert,
fourth son of John (III) of Knockin, by Eleanor de Whitchurch ;
Robert had fought with his brothers Hamon and Roger against
Simon de Montfort in the barons' wars ; like Hamon, he went
with Prince Edward to the Crusade of 1270, but, more fortunate
than his brother, returned in safety to end his days in England
in 1276. His. son, Fulk, inherited Whitchurch from his mother
Eleanor ; he served with credit as a young man in Gascony in
1294, and also during all the Scottish campaigns of Edward I.
Though not summoned to the Parliament held at Lincoln in 1301,
his name as Lord of Corfham appears among those of the barons
who sealed the letter to the Pope, and he was one of the three
le Strange knights who were present at the tournament in 1309.
In that year he was summoned to Parliament under the style
of Lord Strange of Blackmere, and the rolls for the next fifteen
years are full of writs directed to him for civil and military em-
ployments. In the reign of Edward II Fulk was among the
adherents of the Earl of Lancaster, and received a pardon for
the part which he had taken against Gaveston and the King's
friends. Like most of the Marchers, he espoused the policy of the
lords ordainers, and on several occasions he appears to have
evaded compliance with the royal writs requiring him to perform
active service against the Scots. In 1321 he changed sides, like
most of the Marcher lords, on account of their fear of Despencer's
encroachments, and he joined the association formed by them
to drive the Despencers out of the kingdom. Apparently he fought
on the King's side at the battle of Boroughbridge, which resulted
in the capture and execution of Lancaster. These services, and
his early experiences in Gascony, procured for him in 1322 the
appointment to the important office of Seneschal of Aquitaine,
and he administered that province for upwards of a year, until
stricken down there by illness from which he never recovered ;
he probably died in France early in 1324.

His eldest son, John, was under age when he succeeded as
second Lord Strange of Blackmere ; he came of age on the day
of Edward Ill's accession to the throne ; he had been trained

SUMMARY AND GENERAL REMARKS 361

at court as one of the ' valets,' or yeomen, of Edward II, and was
continued in a similar position by the new King. The custody
of Conway Castle was conferred on him when he was only twenty-
four years of age, and he received a special grant of free warren
in all his domains. There are many summonses to him to do
service in the Scotch campaigns of Edward III. In 1345 John
le Strange's name appears among the bannerets summoned to
take part in Edward's abortive expedition to Flanders, and next
year he was one of four le Stranges who took part in the campaign
of Crecy and the siege of Calais, fighting as a banneret in the retinue
of the Earl of Arundel, who commanded the second division of
the army. A general pardon was granted to him ' for his good
services in the war of France,' but he did not long survive, dying
at the early age of forty-three. John's eldest son, Fulk, died
under age only five weeks after his father, and was succeeded
by his brother John as fourth Lord Strange of Blackmere. He
died in 1361, having married Mary fitz Alan, daughter of Richard,
Earl of Arundel, who survived her husband for thirty-five years,
and was known as the ' Lady of Corfham.' Their son, John, the
fifth baron, died under age, leaving a daughter, Elizabeth, who
became Baroness Strange of Blackmere in her own right ; she
was contracted in marriage when eight years old to Thomas de
Mowbray, Earl of Nottingham, afterwards first Duke of Norfolk,
but died without issue while still a child, so the barony of Strange
reverted to her aunt Ankaret, only sister of John, the fifth lord ;
Ankaret married Richard, Lord Talbot, and their eldest son, on
the death of his mother, became eighth Lord Strange ; he had
issue only one daughter, also named Ankaret, who became Baroness
Strange in her own right, but, dying an infant without issue, that
title reverted to her paternal uncle, John Talbot, afterwards the
celebrated Earl of Shrewsbury, so created by Henry V for his
glorious military services in the French wars. Thus the barony
of Strange of Blackmere became merged in the earldom of Shrews-
bury, and so remained until the death of Gilbert, the seventh
earl, in 1616 without male issue, when it fell into abeyance between
his co-heirs, in which condition it still remains.

It has been mentioned that the barony of Strange of Knockin

362 LE STRANGE RECORDS

also became merged in a higher but newer title, namely the
earldom of Derby, in 1514 ; a curious state of things arose more
than a hundred years later, which illustrates the intricacies of
peerage law. On the death of Ferdinando, sixth Earl of Derby,
without male issue in 1594, the earldom passed to his next brother,
but the barony of Strange fell into abeyance between his three
daughters as co-heirs thereof, and among their representatives
it still so continues. James Stanley, eldest son of Ferdinando's
brother William (the sixth earl) was summoned to the House of
Lords during his father's lifetime as Lord Strange, by writ of
1628, under the erroneous belief that the barony of Strange of
Knockin was vested in his father. The mistake was discovered,
and his precedence corrected, but it was held that the effect of
this writ, inadvertently issued, was to create in the Stanley
family a new barony of Strange with precedence of 1628. This
peerage in its turn passed to an heir general instead of to an heir
male, and became vested in the family of the Hurrays, Dukes
of Athole in the peerage of Scotland, and it was in virtue of the
barony of Strange that they sat in the English House of Lords ;
in 1786 the fourth duke was raised to the peerage of Great Britain
as Earl Strange, and it is under this title that his descendants
still sit ; the present duke, who enjoys ten separate titles in the
peerage of Scotland, and five in those of England or of Great
Britain, is, among the latter, the twelfth Lord Strange of the
creation of 1628.

The original enfeoffments of the three le Strange brothers by
Henry I in what is now Shropshire were at three somewhat widely
separated centres, viz. John, the eldest, was established at Ness
in the north-west, Hamon at Cheswardine in the north-east corner,
while Guy became Lord of Alveley in the extreme south-eastern
part, beyond Bridgnorth. Osbaston had been originally conferred
on Hamon, but was inherited by Guy of Alveley, who founded in it
the castle of Knockin, which in the next generation passed from
Guy's daughters and heiresses to their cousin John (II) of Ness, and
thenceforth became the seat of the eldest branch of the family. On
the death of Hamon without issue, Cheswardine had already passed

SUMMARY AND GENERAL REMARKS 363

to his eldest brother, John (I). By sub-infeudation, mainly from
the Fitz Alans, the fief or chatellany of Knockin soon acquired a
very considerable accretion of territory to the north and north-
west of Shrewsbury : Knockin, Ruyton, Ness, Melverley, Bas-
church, and Middle, with other smaller manors, were almost
continuous, while, a little to the north of this group, Ellesmere,
with Colemere and Welsh-Hampton, formed the nucleus of another
cluster of le Strange manors. Almost as many, but more separated
from one another, were held by different members of the family
on the west and north-west of Shrewsbury, viz. Longnor, Wrock-
wardine, Little Ercall, Cheswardine, and Whitchurch ; while
still farther afield to the south lay Church Stretton, with Acton-
Scott and Glazeley, and Alveley in the south-eastern corner of
the county. Many of these le Strange manors seem to have
possessed some sort of exceptional franchise, though some were
held ' in chief ' and others under the Fitz Alans. Ness, for in-
stance, did suit to the county, but not to the hundred ; it also
had free warren with a free court, franchise of gallows and pit,
waifs and infangentheof. Middle, too, had free warren, and,
though it owed suit to the county and hundred, it paid no con-
tribution to the Hundred Court. Cheswardine did suit to the
county, but not to the hundred, and had free warren and a park ;
even Wrockwardine claimed free warren. Eyton points out
that the following estates and manors had jurisdiction more or
less analogous to the jurisdiction of a hundred : Corfham, 1 Wrock-
wardine, 2 Middle, 3 Great Ness, 4 Little Ness, 5 and Church Stretton. 6
It would be interesting, but is probably impossible, to ascertain how
much of these possessions came by grant from the English Crown,
and how much grew up by annexation from the ' Welshry ' : each
case depends on geographical position. In the instance of Knockin,
situated on the actual border of the debatable land, there can
be no doubt that half, or more than half, was acquired by en-
croachments on the principality : the inquest on John le Strange
(IV) in 1276 specifies that the manor of Knockin was worth 20
per annum, while the ' Walcheria de Knockin ' was worth 30.

1 v. 160, 162, 169. * ix. 26. * x. 68.

* x. 272, 288. 8 x. 101. * xii. 17.

364 LE STRANGE RECORDS

It need not be assumed that all these annexations were acts of
conquest made against the will of the small tenants ; many of
these may have found it much to their interest to transfer their
allegiance from a weak Welsh landlord to a powerful English
baron, who in return for fixed services assured them in the occu-
pation of their lands. The Marcher lordships had grown up
gradually from force of circumstances, and rested on no direct
grants from the Crown ; though nominally held in capite, they
were self -governed, and merely owed feudal subjection to the
King ; until the prerogatives of the Lords Marcher were vested
in the Crown by Henry VIII they were, in theory and in practice,
independent rulers within their territories ; the King's writ did not
run there ; the lords appointed sheriffs, constables, escheators,
and other officers ; they held in their own name pleas of the
Crown, and even claimed the right of making war and peace with
their neighbours at pleasure. 1 Of the manors held at one time
or other by the le Stranges, the group round Knockin and the
extensive territory of Ellesmere, certainly attained to the position
of Marcher states, and, as such, were not comprised within the
limits of any English or Welsh county. It was not until the Act
of Union between England and Wales (27 Henry VIII, cap. 36)
that Knockin and all the territory up to and including Oswestry
was included in the county of Shropshire. Professor Tout says
that a comparison of the Hundred Rolls with the Act of Union
of Henry VIII, which settled the shires of the west, suggests that
the Marcher lordships only gradually acquired the remarkable
degree of independence to which they had attained in 1535. In
the Hundred Rolls, Ness, Ellesmere, and Middle seem to be simply
parts of the Hundred of Pimhill, which was in the King's hands,
and even Knockin (and for that matter Oswestry itself) seem
loosely attached to the Hundred of Bradford, though Oswestry
is expressly declared to be free of suit to the Hundred Court. In
the time of Henry VIII not only is Oswestry outside Shropshire,
and formally annexed to it by the Act of Union, but Knockin,
once a fief of Oswestry, is a separate Marcher lordship, and sepa-

1 See English Law in Wales and the Marches, by Henry Owen, D.C.L., 1900.

SUMMARY AND GENERAL REMARKS 365

rately included in Shropshire as part of the new Hundred of Oswes-
try. Similarly Ellesmere, as a result perhaps of the grant to the
le Stranges, had gone out of Pimhill Hundred to become a separate
Marcher lordship, and was now reannexed to it. All this illus-
trates remarkably the development and formulation of Marcher
power in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.

Having thus far given such account as the materials which
have come down to us enable one to do, with regard to the indi-
vidual members of the family, and having traced the descent of
the main branches thereof, it may be worth while to set down a
few remarks on the general part played by the le Stranges in their
day, and notably in the history of the Welsh March. Without
claiming for them any very prominent place in the annals of
their time, and without venturing to assert that any of them
were either great as statesmen or as strategists, it is surely safe
to say that the record of their doings gives a useful insight into
the undercurrent of events which shaped the history of their
period during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. They seem
to have been a typical Marcher family, following nearly always
the general movements which led the Marcher lords to take a
decided, if sometimes not quite a consistent line of their own in
the great problems of general politics. Like other Marcher fami-
lies, they often played a part somewhat beyond their resources,
and involved themselves in debt ; Professor Tout thinks that
this may be the reason why the west country branches of the
family have either become extinct, or have been absorbed in
other great baronial families. This stands in great contrast
with the more even tenour of the ways of the Norfolk branch of
the family which, though seldom looming so large in history, has
happily survived to our own days.

One would like to be able to form some idea of the personality
of these restless, hard fighting le Stranges. What were their
individual characteristics and aims ? What manner of men
were they in themselves and in their dealings with others ? That
they were fierce, brave, energetic, and turbulent, is merely to
say that they were of their age and race, moulded by their en-

366 LE STRANGE RECORDS

vironment ; but they were also in some degree instrumental
in shaping the policy of their time. They were keen in pushing
their own interests, and successful in building up the fortunes of
their House, yet without incurring the enmity or jealousy of their
neighbours. Certainly in some particulars they were not over-
scrupulous in adhering to the strict requirements of the law ; the
King's venison, for instance, was by no means sacred in their
eyes. This turbulence extended even to the clerical members of
the family, as witness Eubulo of Gresford, who had no scruple
about killing his man, even when himself getting on in years ;
they would not have belonged to their time and district had not
this been the case. If large donations to ecclesiastical foundations
are to be accepted as a sign of personal piety, the repeated gifts
made by each generation to their favourite abbey of Haughmond
will earn for them a high place among the most pious sons of
Mother Church. What seems to be the most distinguishing
characteristic of the family, as well as that which entitles a de-
scendant to look back to its story with pride and veneration, is
that during those two centuries of constant insurrection and
intrigue, no charge of having betrayed his trust for any base
or interested motive was ever laid by any of their feudal lords to
the door of any member of the House. Objection has been made
that too much stress has been laid in preceding chapters on the
loyalty of the family as a characteristic, in that it was at times
very conditional. Surely this record of their services for 200
years is sufficient to invalidate this stricture. Guy, the founder
of Knockin, held the border castles for Henry II during the
critical time of the rebellion of that King's sons in 1173-4. John
(II) of Knockin was faithful even to a king like John, and was
singled out as one of the only four Marcher lords who had never
borne arms against him. John le Strange (III) fought on the
King's side throughout the whole of the wars of the barons. His
eldest son at first espoused the cause of Simon de Montfort, but
afterwards attached himself to the party of Prince Edward ;
Hamon (the crusader) also began by fighting under de Montfort,
but changed front with the other Marchers in 1263. In those
days, when the King was a captive in the hands of a faction,

SUMMARY AND GENERAL REMARKS 367

resistance to his nominal commands did not necessarily imply
treason to the royal cause. Roger, the third brother, also fought
on the side of Henry III against the barons ; under Edward I
he saw service in everyone of that King's Welsh wars, and had
under his command his own nephew, John (V) of Knockin, who
was specially commended by Edward for having given volun-
tarily more service than was due by the obligation of his feudal
tenure. If in a later generation members of the family, both
from Knockin and Blackmere, took part in the rising against the
favourites of Edward II, such conduct is scarcely sufficient to
indicate a lack of loyalty to the Crown. On a careful review
of the whole record it may fairly be claimed that steady loyalty
was a distinguishing characteristic of the family, and that if any
conditions were attached to it, those conditions were consistent
with fidelity to the real as opposed to the nominal interests of
the Crown, and were in no single instance dependent on any
consideration of personal advantage.

CHAPTER XI

THE HERALDRY OF LE STRANGE

AT what period the two lions passant which have always formed
the le Strange coat of arms were first adopted it is impossible to
say ; though, probably, at least as early as the time of John le
Strange (II), who lived during the third crusade, in which King
Richard took part. It was towards the close of the twelfth
century that distinctive heraldic bearings were adopted as a
necessity to enable the followers of a knight to recognise their
leader, whose features were entirely concealed by the close helmet
which at that period superseded the open one, furnished only with
a nasal, hitherto worn by the Normans, as depicted in the Bayeux
tapestry. The lions were certainly used by John le Strange (III)
when he was Sheriff of Shropshire, 1236 to 1248. The earliest
known Roll of Arms is that called the Roll of King Henry III,
a copy of which exists in the College of Arms, made by the
herald Robert Glover in 1586. The original Roll, made between
1240 and 1245, has disappeared since Glover's time, but his MS.
was edited by Sir Harris Nicolas in 1829, and an emblazoned copy
of the arms was printed by Messrs. Harrison & Son of 23 Great
Portland Street. In this emblazoned copy appear the following
arms : J. le Strange, argent, two lions passant in pale, gules ;
and John le Strange, the same, differenced by a label of five points,
azure. It will be noticed that the tinctures in each case have been
counter-changed ; the arms as given being those subsequently
borne by the Blackmere branch of the family, whereas they are
obviously intended for those of John le Strange (III) of Knockin,

and his son, John (IV).

368

THE HERALDRY OF LE STRANGE 369

Mention has been made in Chapter IV * of the bond, dated
October 24, 1268, by which Hamon, the crusader, borrowed
fifty marks of Hagim, the Jew ; to this bond is still attached a
broken seal, from the legend on which all but a few letters is gone,
but the two lions passant remain, and above the shield a small
crescent. Hamon was the second son of his father, but Sir Alfred
Scott-Gatty, Garter, thinks that the date of the seal is too early
to warrant the conclusion that the insertion of the crescent, which
in later times was used as a mark of cadency for a second son, is
in this instance anything more than a coincidence, as it was a
common practice in early seals to place celestial bodies above a
shield : for instance, on the secretum of Margaret de Redvers,
ante 1252, above the shield of her arms, which, curiously enough,
are two lions passant, is placed a star within a crescent.

Another seal of this Hamon has survived, attached to his grant
of the manor of Chawton to his brother Robert. 2 Here again the
legend is almost gone, but the lions passant are quite distinct, and
in the space on the dexter side of the shield is a star of five points,
and on the sinister side a crescent. By this deed Hamon did
not raise any money for his expenses to the crusade ; he granted
the manor to his brother for the consideration of a chaplet of
flowers to be paid annually on the day of St. John Baptist. As
Robert also went on the crusade it is difficult to understand why
the grant was made to him ; perhaps it passed before Robert
had made up his mind to go to the Holy Land.

Eyton gives an engraving 3 of an early seal of a Henry le
Strange of Brocton, whom I have not been able to identify ; 4
it bears in the centre, but not on a shield, a single lion passant to
the sinister. It may be of very early date, before the charge of
two lions had become finally adopted as the cognisance of the
family.

John le Strange (V), first Baron Strange of Knockin, was
among the knights present with Edward I at the siege of Caer-
laverock in 1300, and the contemporary Roll of Arms displayed
there gives his coat as follows :

1 Supra, p. 143. * Supra, p. 145. s ii. 124. * See p. 91.

2 B

370 LE STRANGE RECORDS

Johans le Estrange le ot livree Rouge o deuz blans lyons passans. 1
[John le Strange had it coloured red, with two white lions passant.]

A representation of his seal from a charter in the British
Museum 2 is given in the ' B.M. Catalogue of Seals,' 3 though the
lions are incorrectly described there as guardant ; an inspection
of the original shows that they are simply passant.

This John was one of the three le Strange barons who sealed
the famous letter to the Pope in 1301, all the seals on which have
been figured in photogravure by Lord Howard de Walden in his
admirable monograph on that letter. By his courtesy in lending
me the blocks I am enabled to give presentments of all three of
them. The seals of the several barons, now separated from the
parchment on which the letter was engrossed, but still attached
to the original silken cords on which they were affixed, are ex-
hibited in two glass cases in the Museum of the Public Record
Office. They are beautifully represented, in Lord Howard's mono-
graph, in full size, on their respective cords, and in their several
colours, with an Introduction by himself, and a short life history
of each of the earls and barons. 4 That of John le Strange, on
cord xii, A 23, depicts him in armour, on a barded horse, bran-
dishing his sword ; helm with a fan plume, vizor down. On his
shield and on the caparisons of his charger he bears the two
lions passant of his House, and round the seal runs the legend :

S' IOHANNIS LE STRAVNGE

The other le Strange seals attached to the letter to the Pope
are those of Roger of Ellesmere and Fulk of Blackmere. That
of Roger, on cord A 65, bears the two lions passant with a bordure
engrailed for a mark of cadency. The shield is suspended by its
guige from a hook, the space on either side being filled in with scroll
work. The ' British Museum Catalogue of Seals ' gives another
example of the same. 5 Apparently a bordure engrailed was some-
times used as the distinctive mark of a third son. Eyton gives an
instance from the Corbet family. 6

1 See p. 211. * Add. MSS. 8068. * ii. 770, No. 9522.

' Some Feudal Lords and their Seals, MCCC (the De Walden Library), pp. 85,
140, and 166. B ii. No. 11,315. vii. 360-1.

Plate X.

i .

HAWISE (LE STRANGE) DE KEVEILIOC.

ROGER LE STRANGE,
of ELLESMERE.

JOHN LE STRANGE (V.),

. of

FULK LE STRANGE,
of BLACK.MERE.

JOHN LE STRANGE (VI.),
of KNOCKIN.

10 lace ptigi' 370

THE HERALDRY OF LE STRANGE 371

The shield of Fulk, first Lord Strange of Blackmere, on
cord A 63, shows the two lions passant, without, of course,
indicating the counterchange of tinctures by which it was
differenced from the arms of his cousin of Knockin. An
example of this seal is also to be seen in the ' British Museum
Catalogue.' 1

A list in the British Museum of the names and arms of the
bannerets of England, c. Edward II, 2 gives the following coats
as differenced by five members of the family :

'Sire Johan le Estrange; de goules a ii lions passanz de
argent.

' Sire Roger le Estrange ; meymes les armes od la bordure en-
dente de or.

' Sire Fouk le Estrange ; de argent, a ii lions passanz de goules.
Gloucestershire.

' Sire Hamoun le Estraunge ; de goules, a deux lions passanz de
argent, e un baston de or.

' Sire Johan le Estraunge ; de goules a les merelos de or, e ii lions
passanz de argent.'

Who the second Sir John was is not apparent. The merelos
de or, I take it, indicate an orle of martlets, as, in the Roll of Arms
of the tournament held at Stepney in June I3O9, 3 Sir John le
Strange is chronicled as bearing, gules, two lions passant, argent,
within an orle of eight martlets, or.

The name of Fulk le Strange of Longnor appears among those
of the knights present at the tournament of Dunstable in 1333,
as bearing, de goules ore deux lyons rampants d' argent, coronnes
d'or* He was the second son of Fulk, first Lord Strange of Black-
mere, and was enfeoffed by his father in the manors of Longnor
and Bett on-Strange.

The seal of John le Strange (VI) of Knockin still remains
attached to the charter, preserved at Hunstanton, 5 by which he
granted that manor to his younger brother Hamon. As will be
seen from the photogravure on Plate X, (5) it is a small seal, not

1 ii. 770, No. 9521. * MS. Cotton, Calig. A. xviii, pencil fo. 3-21.

8 Collect. Top. et Genealog., iv. 70.

4 B M. Cotton, MSS. Otho D, iv. 92 ; Sloane MSS. 1301, 257. 6 Supra, p. 259.

2 B 2

372 LE STRANGE RECORDS

quite an inch in diameter, with shield in the centre, bearing two
lions passant, surrounded by the legend :

S. JOHIS EXTRANEI ' DE * KNOKIN

Hamon, the grantee of Hunstanton, differenced his paternal
arms by surmounting them with a bendlet, or ; and with this
difference they were used by the Hunstanton branch until the
main stem at Knockin died out in 1514, in the person of Joan,
Baroness Strange of Knockin, who married George Stanley, and
brought about the merger of her title in the earldom of Derby ;
the le Stranges of Hunstanton then became the direct represen-
tatives of the name, and thenceforth bore the two lions passant
without the bendlet.

Eubulo le Strange, the husband of Alice de Lacy, Countess of
Lincoln, differenced his paternal arms by surmounting them with
a label of three points, or, each point charged with a lion rampant
of the field. 1

Robert le Strange, fourth son of John (III) of Knockin, and
father of Fulk, first Lord Strange of Blackmere, bore the two lions
passant within an orle crusilly fitchee, argent*

The bordure engrailed, as borne round the arms of Roger of
Ellesmere, is sometimes described as a bordure indented? The
Parliamentary Roll, printed by Sir F. Palgrave, gives the following
coat as borne by Johan le Estraunge : Gules, within a bordure
indented, or, two lions passant, argent, debruised by a bendlet azure*

A paper in the ' Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological
Society ' 5 states that Hamon, the crusader, who had a grant of the
manor of Ellesmere in 1267, bore, gules, two lions passant, argent,
within a bordure engrailed, or. If this be correct, Hamon may
have passed on this mark of difference to his brother Roger, to-
gether with the manor of Ellesmere, when he enfeoffed the latter
in that manor on starting himself for the Holy Land in 1270.

For drawing my attention to several of these marks of difference,
and giving me references to the authorities for them, I am greatly

1 E.D.N. Alphabet, Coll. of Arms, z Harl. MSS. 6137, fo - 77 b > rs -

3 Pavl. Writs (Sir F. Palgrave), i. 1486, 4106.

* B.M. Cotton, MSS. Calig. A. xviii, pencil fo. 3-21. 5 vii. 200.

THE HERALDRY OF LE STRANGE 373

indebted to the kindness of Sir Alfred Scott-Gatty, Garter, whose
wealth of information, courteously placed at my disposal, enables
me to give many of the foregoing particulars ; they are instruc-
tive as showing seven or eight diverse methods adopted by early
heralds for differencing the paternal coat of a single family, while
preserving the essential features of the original charge.

Further indications of cadency, together with later develop-
ments of heraldry in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries
such as crest, badge, motto, and supporters 'must be reserved
for notice when dealing with the later history of the family ;
but one example, showing the widespread use of armorial repre-
sentation in connection with architecture, I may introduce here,
though it relates to a later period than that to which the present
volume is confined.

The le Strange shield turns up unexpectedly on the coast
of Asia Minor in the early years of the fifteenth century. The
mediaeval castle of Budrum, then called St. Peter Liberator, had
been built on the site and out of the ruins of Halicarnassus by the
knights of St. John in 1404, during their occupation of the island
of Rhodes, as an outpost on the mainland, and a place of refuge
for escaped Christian slaves. The walls are of great thickness,
and adorned with the armorial bearings of the knights. The
south-eastern tower, which rises from the rocks by the sea in
three stories, appears to have been built by the English knights
of the Order, as it is ornamented by a display of English heraldry
of great antiquarian interest. High up on the western wall the
arms and crest of England are carved in marble, and they appear
again over the doorway on the north side, flanked by two shields
with crosses of the Order ; while, a little lower, is a long line of
twenty-two shields, eleven on either side, besides three smaller
ones under the central lower shield. These armorial bearings
were partially described by the late Sir Richard Holmes, for Sir
Charles Newton's work on Halicarnassus, 1 and more fully by Sir
Clements Markham in 1893, before the Society of Antiquaries. 2
Sir Clements' cousin, Admiral Sir Hastings Markham, K.C.B., who

1 Vol. ii., part ii. Appendix, i. 666.

1 Proc. Soc. Antiq. (2nd series), xiv. 281-7.

374 LE STRANGE RECORDS

explored the castle with him, has contributed to the ' Transactions '
of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge of Freemasons a detailed paper,
illustrated by excellent photographs. 1 Of these shields six, viz.
three on either side of the central one, bear the Plantagenet arms ;
the first shield, next to these on the right as you face them, bears
the two lions passant of le Strange of Knockin, and most of the
other heraldic bearings have been identified. It is not contended
that scions of these twenty-two noble houses were actually en-
gaged in the building of this fortress in Asia Minor. Richard,
seventh Lord Strange, for example, had just made proof of age
in 1404, and been summoned to Parliament, and it is not likely
that he was at Budrum ; but there is evidence that Lord fitz
Hugh, whose arms appear on the tenth shield on the right, was
personally connected with the building of this distant Christian
outpost. Admiral Markham adopts his cousin's explanation, that
the appearance of all these English arms here indicates that the
English knights of the Order, whose own arms are perhaps those
on the three small shields below the centre, had been adherents
of, or were in some way connected with, the noble houses whose
bearings they associated with those of their King, Henry IV, over
the gateway of the tower of the English langue in this remote
fortress.

It is worthy of mention that a family of Lestrange still exists
in France ; but as 800 years have elapsed since the progenitor
of the English stock came over from Anjou, at a period before
heraldic bearings, if in use at all, had any hereditary fixity, it is
not likely that any connection can be established. The French
family belongs to Languedoc, far to the south of Anjou, and,
curiously enough, their arms consist of lions ; the bearing, as
given in Rietstep's Armorial General (Gouda, 1861) are, ' de gueles
d un lion d' argent en chef, et deux lions adosses d'or, en pointed

1 Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, xvii. 74-83.

INDEX OF PERSONS

Names which belong to Official Lists, or seem to have any genealogical relation, are
usually classified in order of succession, not alphabetically. Reference to extended notice
of any individual is made by larger figures.

ABERFRAW, Prince of, 101, 102
Acton, Edward de, 207, 288, 304
Adeliza, Queen, n
jElfric, Bishop of Elmham, 15
Aigueblanche (Aquablanca), Peter de,

Bishop of Hereford, 131
Ala, domina, 45

Alanson, Robert, prior of Castleacre, 49
Albemarle, Earl of, 75
Albini, Cecily de, 161

William de (III), Earl of Arundel,

15 8 . J 59

Mabel, wife of, 159

Hugh de (last Earl of Arundel), 154,

159, 160, 191, 199. See Arundel
- Isabel, wife of, 159, 191

Nicola de, 154, 157, 158, 159, 160,

199. 35 6

family of. See Arundel
Albo Monasterio, William de, 120
Aldithelegh. See Audley
Aleby, Thomas de, 49
Alemania, Henricus de, 228
Alexander III, King of Scotland, 122

Ill, Pope, 35, 39
Alguzo, Guigan, 10
Alivi, 12

Alphonso IV, King of Castile, 120, 239

son of Jayme I of Arragon. 228
Andrew, son of Hubert, Provost of

Shrewsbury, 150

Anjou, Fulk of, King of Jerusalem, 147
Apelton, John, son of Thomas de, 178
Cristiana, wife of, 178

Aqua, John de, 235
Arnald, Thomas, 243
Arteveldt, Jacob van, 312
Arthur of Brittany, 71
Arundel, Adam de, 85

Earl of, and Sussex, William de

Albini (I) (1138-1176), n, 13, 23,
36, 169

(II), (1176-1103), 14, 60,

213
(Ill), (1193-1221), 158,

J59
Hugh de Albini (1234-1243),

154, 159, 191, 199

Isabel, wife of, 191

Richard fitz Alan (1272-1302),

48, 49, 52, 168, 1 80, 199, 200, 205,

293. 3io. 3n. 3M. 315. 3i 8 . 320,
321, 327, 328, 331, 335, 337

Edmund fitz Alan (1302-1326), 69,

164, 210, 213, 214, 222, 265, 274,

293. 298, 323, 33L 338
Ashburnham, Earl of, John, 348, 349

Lady Henrietta Bridget, Baroness

Strange, 348, 349

Athens, Aalis, daughter of Duke of, 147
Athole, ist Marquess of, John Murray,

348

ist Duke of, John Murray, 348

2nd Duke of, James Murray, and 7th

Lord Strange, 348, 349

3rd Duke of, John Murray, 348, 349

4th Duke of, John Murray, gth Lord

Strange, and ist Earl Strange, 348

375

376

INDEX OF PERSONS

Athole, 5th Duke of, John Murray, loth
Lord Strange and 2nd Earl Strange,

348

6th Duke of, George Murray, nth

Lord Strange, and 3rd Earl Strange,

348

7th Duke of, John Murray, i2th Lord

Strange, and 4th Earl Strange, 348,

349

Aubigny. See Albini
Audley (Aldithelegh), Henry de, 68, 69,

76, 100, 101, 103, 104, 112, 114,

117, 118
Hugh de, 291

James de, 123, 124, 125, 127, 130,

311

Nicholas de, 307

Katharine, wife of, 307

James, son of, 307

Aurifax, William, 150, 231
Aynho, prior of (1266), 141

BACON, Edmund, 271
Bada, Guillegrip de, 10

Rainerus de, 10
Badlesmere, Bartholomew de, 244

Guncelin de, 189, 235
Bagge, John, 4

Nicholas, son of Mariota, 200
Bagod, Henry, 101

Balian le Fran?ois, 147

Balliol, John, King of Scotland, 122

Edward, King of Scotland, 279, 280
Banastre, William, 55

Bangor, Bishop of (1204), 71
Robert, 77
Baniard, Galfridus, 155, 156
Banyard, Ralph, 4

Robert, 271
Bardolph, Hugh, 87

John, 179

William, 121
Barentyn, William de, 172
Baret, William, 271
Barlais, Guillaume, 147
Barlings, abbot of, 283

Baruth, Dame de, 147. See Ybelin

Sire de, 147

Eschive, daughter of, 147

Baskerville, Walter de, 314, 315
Basset, Philip, 127

Ralph, 10, 128, 134, 136, 159, 303

Richard, 140, 141
Bassingbourne, Warren de, 134

Bath and Wells, Bishop of, Robert

Burnell, 289
Baucis, Galfridus de, 100

Willelmus de, 12
Baus, Willielmus des, 5

Beam, Vicomte de, Gaston de Moncada,

228

Beauchamp, William de, 229, 230
Beaufoe, Ralph de, 176
Beaumont, Robert de, Earl of Leicester,

Beccam, Willelmus fil. Radulphi de, 12
Beckbury, Hugh de, 87
Bedford, Duchess of, Jacquetta, 344

Earl of, Ingelram de Conci, 320
Begesoure, William de, 91
Bekyngham, William, 339
BellSme, Robert de, n, 23
Belvaco, Philip de, 191

Benet, Meurik de la, 265
Benhale, Robert de, 179

Eva, wife of, 179

Benstede, Johannes de, 262

Bereford, Willelmus de, 262

Bernard, 86

Berry, Ralph de, 238

Bessin (Beysin), Adam de, 8, 80

Beugnot, Comte, 147

Bigod (Bigot), Roger, 12, 13, 16, 18,

19
Binham, Alanus de, 12,

Michael, portarius de, 12
Birmingeham (Byrmyngham), William de,

I4L 2 35

Biset, Manasse, Dapifer, 28
Bitton, Thomas de, Bishop of Exeter,

286

Blaauw. See Barons' War
Blakeway, John B., 206
Blancminster, Eleanor de, 172

Hawyse de, 115

Thomas de, 22. SeeBlackmere, Whit-

church
Blomefield, Francis, 46, 48, 83, 177, 271,

328

Blore's Rutland, 272
Blund, John le, 101

Robert, 1 6
Blunt, Guy le, 232
Blumvill, William de, 253
Bocalanda, Hugo de, 10
Bochlandus, Walter, a Norman, 12
Body, Robert, 238

Boeles, William de, 81, 101
Bohemia, Queen of, Elizabeth, 348
Bohun, Edward de, 277

INDEX OF PERSONS

377

Bohun, Humphrey, Earl of Hereford, 123,
210, 243

William, 277
Bohuns, the, 193
Bolas, 286

Bosco, de. See Boys

Bosse, Ricardus, 155

Bostare, Robert de, 10

Botiler, William le, 143, 250, 306

Bou, John, 17

Boys (de Bosco), 177

Bracy, Audulph de, 68, 69

Braosa (Braose), William de, 81, 121

Brascy, Robert de, 172

Braunche, Andrew, son of Nicholas of

Somerset, 287
Bray, Thomas de, 144
Bressingham, William de, 96
Bretun, John le, 126

Bridgman, Hon. and Rev. G. T. O., 162
Bridgwater, Earl of, John Egerton, 323
Brigida, Richard de, 62
Brisingham, Thomas de, 138
Britannia, Johnde, 245
Brittany, mythical Duke of, i, 2, 3, 9,

35 1

Brocton, Agnes de, 91
Bromfield, Griffith de, 120, 121, 123
Bruce, Robert, 217, 275, 297, 299
Brun (Bruna), Matilda le, Pedigree I, 5

Ralph le, 14

Reginald le (c. 1174), Pedigree I, n, 14

Simon le, fitz Ralph (temp. Henry I),

Pedigree I, n

William de, parson of Hunstanton

(1178), 44, 60

William le (1241), in
Brus, David de, 310
Buildwas, abbot of, 35
Bule, Richard le, 51

Buleman (Bulman), Robert, 4, 155
Bunch, Hamo fitz, 12
Burgesius, of Florence, 230
Burgeys, Henry, 270
Burgh, Bartholomew de, 225

Hubert de, 81, 86, 101

William de, 47
Burgton, John de, 265
Burlingham, Geoffrey de, 5
Burnell, Hugh, 186

Robert, 228

Bishop of Bath and Wells, 289

Burnham, Philip de, 22, 45, 46, 150
Cecilia, wife of, 150

William de, 5

Butterwyk, Alexander de, 177, 178

Buwardsley, Philip de, 91
Warin de, 8, 63, 64, 92
Bygar, Walerand de (1229), 93

CADWALLADER, Prince of N. Wales, 31,

Caley (Caly), Hugh de, 15
Calthorp, William de, 151
Camis, Briencius de, 12

Fabianus de, 12

Rueldus de, 12
Campville, Richard de, 28
Canisii, Brien, 36
Cantelupe, Nicholas de, 285

William, Lord, 100
Millicent, wife of, 100

Juliana, daughter of, 100
Canterbury, Archbishop of, Anselm, 88
Stephen Langton, 72

Henry Chichele, 277

John Peckham, 231, 236

Careles (Carles), John, 207, 288, 304

family, 304

Carthew, G. A., 39, 46, 47, 49, 94
Castlehaven, Earl of, Mervyn Tutchet,

323
Cathcart, gib. Lord, 348

Jane, daughter of, 348

Cayly, Willelmus, 260
Cesarea, Nicholas, Prince of, 147
Champoneys, Thomas, 258
Chandos, Baron, Grey Bridges, 323
Charles IV (le Bel), 301
Charlton, John de, 164, 296, 331
Charmes, Reginald de, 258, 262
Chartres, Giulin, Comte de, 147
Chaucombe, Amabel de, 158
Cheney, Hugh de, 175

Roger de, 219
Cherleton, Lewis de, 312

Chester, Clemence, Countess of, 158, 159

Earl of, Randolph de Blondeville, 75
John le Scot (1237), 103

Walter, Bishop of, 28
Chetewynde, William de, 327
Chichele, Henry, Archbishop of Canter-
bury, 277

Chiping, Peter, 177
Christiana, 86
Churchull, John de, 144
Clare, William de (1258), 124

Richard de, Earl of Gloucester (d.

1262), 124, 125

Gilbert de, Earl of Gloucester (d.

1295). 133. 136

378

INDEX OF PERSONS

Clare, Gilbert de, Earl of Gloucester,

Eleanor, sister of, 299
Clement V, Pope, 293

VI, Pope, 308, 316
Clerke, Guy le, 235, 236

Clermont, William de, Canon of St.

Chad, Salop, 150
Clifford, Margaret, daughter of 2nd Earl

of Cumberland, 323

Richard de, 227

Roger de, 118, 128, 131, 134, 135, 136,

192, 235

Walter de (I), 290

fair Rosamond, daughter of, 292

108, 137

(Ill), 292

Maud, daughter of, 292

Clinton, Goiffedus de, 10

Clotley, Ralph de, 86

Cloychs, Roger, 253

Cnut, King, 15

Cobham, Reginald, Lord, 288, 320, 342

Cocus, William, 4

Cole, William, 280

Combermere, abbot of (1255), 121 ;

(1272), 223
Constance, the Lady (widow of Henry

of Almain), 228
Constantin, Christiana, late wife of

Richard de, 88
Conteshale, Andrew, 178
Copyn, Brother James, Danish Envoy,

208
Corbet, Hugh, 170

Peter, 202, 203

Robert, 66, 73, 77

Thomas, son of, 77, 85, 100, 119,

120, 130, 137, 157

of Moreton, 302, 304, 309

Amice, daughter of, 309

Thomas, 250, 260

Robert, son of, 250, 288

Corbett, John, of Longnor, 304

Joseph, Archdeacon of Salop, 207
Corfham, the Lady of (Mary le Strange),

319

Cornwall, Earl of, Edmund, 202, 233, 236
Cornwayle, Brian de, 315
Cotentin, Thomas de, 76
Cotes, Simon de, 144
Courtenay, Hugh, 333
Cranage, D. H. S., 41
Craon, Amaury de, 338
Creissio, Hugo de, 45
Cresset, Ivo, 334
Crevequer, Stephen, 243

Crokesle, Johannes de, 240
Crowe, John, 251
Crowland, abbot of, 278
Crumwell, Ralph de, 158, 159, 199

Margaret, wife of, 158, 159, 199

Curson, John, 334

Cyprus, Hugh II, King of, 147

Isabelle, Queen of, 147

Cyveiliog, Hugh de, Earl of Chester,

DARCY, Norman, 286
Darell, William, 340

Elizabeth, wife of, 340

Datton, William, 301
Daubeney, Hugh de, 199
Daumary, Nicholas, 267, 268
David II, King of Scotland, 280

son of Griffith ap Llewelyn, 113, 121,

127, 143, 163, 191, 192, 198

son of Llewelyn the Great, 109, no,

112, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119,

130. See Llewelyn
Deneys, Richard le, 52
Derby, Earl of, William de Ferrers

(1213), 73

ist Earl of, Thomas Stanley, 347

5th Earl of, Ferdinando Stanley, 347

6th Earl of, William Stanley, 323,

348

6th Earl of, William Stanley, James,

son of, summoned as Lord Strange,

348

8th Earl of, Charles Stanley, 2nd

Lord Strange, 348

9th Earl of, William Stanley, 3rd

Lord Strange, 348, 349

loth Earl of, James Stanley, 6th Lord

Strange, 348, 349

nth Earl of, Edward Stanley, 349
Dering, Sir Henry, 176
Despencer, Hugh le, 241, 242, 243
(Ill), 278, 299

Hugh, Lord, 318

Isabel, daughter of, 318

Despencers, the, 273, 276, 277, 278, 360
Desys, Roger, son of Ralph, 151. See

Hys, Ys

Deyncourt, Willem, 286
Douglas, the Regent, Archibald, 280
Downman, E. A., 65
Dublin, Archbishop of, Henry de London,

75
Dugdale, William, i, 2, 6, 9, 61, 83,

85, 271

INDEX OF PERSONS

379

Dunham, Reginald de, 95
Dunny, William, vicar of Hunstanton,
200, 20 1

Thomas, brother of, 200

Dunstan, William de, 56

EARL MARSHAL. See Pembroke
Edmund Crouchback, son of Henry III,

143, 146, 148, 207, 241, 356. See

Lancaster, Earl of
Ednyved, 215 n.
Edward, son of Henry III, 109, 120, 123,

124, 128, 132, 133, 134, 136, 140,

142, 145, 146, 238, 354
afterwards Edward I, 145, 146,

148, 187, 188, 189, 193, 194, 195,

197, 202, 204, 205, 207, 209, 211,

214, 217, 236, 237, 239, 242, 243,

245. 338, 355. 357

Prince of Wales, afterwards Edward

II, 214, 217, 246, 255, 260, 272, 273,
275, 276, 295, 297, 299, 300, 302,

338

Ill, 276, 278, 279, 281, 305, 308, 310,

312, 314, 315, 321, 359
Edward, son of, 312, 314

- IV, 344

Edward, son of, 344

Hugo of Thorp, chaplain, 178
Egerton, Rev. G. H., 218, 219
Eiville, Roger d', 153, 184, 186
Eleanor (of Provence), Queen of Henry

III, 104, 109

(of Castile), Queen of Edward I,

120, 189, 229, 234, 354
Elesworth (Ellesworth), Simon de, 240,

242

Elfrych, James, 191
Elizabeth (Wydville), Queen of Edward

IV, 344, 346

Ely, Bishop of (Longchamp), 62
Erdington, Giles de, 137, 170, 171

Henry de, 158, 159, 174, 199, 235
Maud, wife of, 158, 159, 199

Thomas de, 73, 74
Ernesley, Richard de, 183
Erpingham, Robert de, 271
Eshe, Roger atte, 179
Eskermiscur, Alexander le, 200, 201
Essex and Hereford, Earl of, 116
Esstrang, Radulphus de (at Ingham), 85
Estrangia, Domina, 56

Everard, John, 137

Evreux, Almeric, Count of, 100

Bertrada d', 159

Exeter, Bishop of, Thomas de Bitton,

287 and n.
Extranea, Emma, 180

Heiliwisa, 56, 57

Lucia, 139
Extraneus I. See Strange
Eylesbury, Walter de, 146

Eyton, R. W., 2, 3, u, 24, 42, 46, 47,
48, 129, 172, 173, 208, 225, 276,
291, 38, 329, 365

FALESIA, Haimon de, 10
Farndon, William de, 236
Fauconberg, John, Lord, 280
Fauconberge, Wauter de, 286
Felton, Robert de, 52, 267, 268, 308

John, son of, 52, 267, 268, 308

Ferrariis, Robert de, 313

Ferrars, Earl of, 118

Ferrers, John de, Lord, 288/320

Robert de, 198

Eleanor, widow of, 233

Thomas de, 144, 198

William de, Earl of Derby, 159

Alice, wife of, 159

Fettiplace, Thomas, 288

Fitz Aer, Robert, 62

Emma de Say, wife of, 62

Robert, son of, 62

Fitz Alan, William (I), (d. c. 1160), 5,

9, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33,

37, 48, 352

Christiana, wife of, 25

(II), (1160-1210), 34, 35, 36, 38,

39, 41, 49, 59, 63, 64, 71, 83, 85, 87,

92, 93, 208
John (I), (1240-1268), 50, 76, 8o.,

85, 99, ioo, 101, 105, 112, 115, 119,

122
John (II), (1268-1272), 167, 187,

225
Isabella, wife of, 167. See

Arundel

Fitz Baldewin, Thomas, 95
Fitz Flaald, Alan, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 23,

34. 35. 38, 39, 46, 4 8
Fitz Gerald, Maurice, 137
Fitz Herluin alias Ralph de Hunstanton

(1086), Pedigree I, u, 12, 13, 14, 16,

19, 45

Fitz Norman, Robert, 71
Fitz Otto, Hugh, 232, 236
Fitz Philip, Adam, 135, 136

John, 108

Fitz Ralph, Henry, 177

3 8o

INDEX OF PERSONS

Fitz Reginald, Geoffrey, 84
Fitz Richard, Simon, 93

William, 4

Fitz Robert, Hugh, 73

forester of Shropshire, 107

Fitz Roger, Gwido, 5

Fitz Walter John Ratcliffe, Lord, 323

Fitz Warin (Fitz Waryn), Fulk, 2, 68, 69

(HI), ( II97) , 85

(1245). 118

the younger (1253), 120,

125, 136, 202
Elizabeth, widow of (1392),

333

William (1333), 309

Fitz William, Robert, 90
Fitz Wimer, Roger, 5
Flandus, Alan, son of, 48, 49
Florencia, Nutus de, 191
Foix, Gaston de, 302
Foliot, Edmond, 217

Jordan (1299), 52, 96, 251
Fonte, Saxi de, 176

Fougeres, William de, 89, 158, 159

Agatha, wife of, 158, 159

France, King of, Philip the Fair, 214
Franceys, Henry, Master of Bridgnorth

Hospital, 41

Francheville, Simon de, 94, 96
Frankton, Stephen de, 196, 197, 202,

241

Fraunceys, Walter le, of Frompton, 149
Frederick, Thomas, 348

Jean, daughter of, 348

Freville, Roger de, 50
Freyne, Hugh de, 283, 284, 327
Fromilode, Simon de, 149
Furnivall, Thomas Nevill, Lord, 322

Maud, Baroness, 288, 322

GADERGOD, Thomas, 178

Gairdner, James, 197

Gamel, provost of Shrewsbury, 150

Gamot, Christiana, 200

Gascony, Duke of, 301, 302

Gatesden, John of, 250

Gaveston, Piers, 218, 264, 267, 272, 295,

299, 359, 360

Geffrey, Thomas, son of Thomas, 316
Geneva (Genville, Joinville), Peter de, 115

Maud de Lacy, wife of, 115

Geoffrey, son of Henry II, 38
Gerard, Petrus, 166
Germeyn, Simon, 243
Germun, John, 88

Gerners, William de, 51

William, son of, 51

Gervase Coch, 22, 42. See Sutton

Griffith ap, 83

Giffard, John, of Brimsfield, 193, 195,
292, 293, 306, 307

Peter, 269

Gilbert, son of Annote, 207
Gilbertes, John, son of Thomas, 207

Alice, wife of, 207

Gipeswico, John, son of Geoffrey de, 97

Glasseleye, Alan de, 200

Glendower (Glendwr, Glyndwr), Owen,

184, 192, 215 and n., 216, 223, 254,

339, 356

Glenlyon, James Murray, Lord, 348
Gloria, Peter de, 148
Gloucester, Earl of, 102, 299, 307. See

Clare

Gocelin, clerk of Hunstanton (1265), 200
Godric, 6

Goldyngton, William, son of Ralph de, 253
Gostwyk, John de, 243
Gough, Richard, 218
Gregory, Pope, 239

XII, Pope, 340
Grendon, Robert de, 120

Grey, John de, 119, 123, 233, 261

Lord le, 340

Joan, daughter of, 340

de Codnor, Lord, 340

de Ruthin, Lord, 340 ; Reginald, Lord,

288, 317

de Wilton, Lord, 340

Reginald de, 199, 202

de, family, 212

Griffith ap Gwenwynwyn (de la Pole,
Prince of Powys), 98, in, 114, 116,
118, 121, 125, 130, 145, 153, 162,
163, 188, 189, 193, 237

Owen, son of, 237

John, son of, 237

ap Madog, 184, 192, 223, 252, 323

ap Griffith, 215, 216

Gruffydd, Llwyd, 176

of Maelor, 215, 216
Gulafre, Roger, 94
Gunton, John de, 52

Gwalterii, Bourencinus, of Lucca, 235
Gwenwynwyn, Prince of Powys, 68, 72,

73, 7 8
Gwynedd, Owen, 3, 31, 32

HADLEY, William de, 83

Hagim, son of Mosseus, the Jew, 143, 369

INDEX OF PERSONS

Halgton, Thomas de, 265
Halhtone (Haughton), Robert de, 167
Hall, Edward (Continuator of Trivet) , 273
Halton, Henry de, 283, 286
Hamburgh, Nicholas de, 270
Hamilton, 3rd Duke of, 348

Katharine, daughter of, 348

Hamo clericus, 5

Hangelton, Richard de, 310

Hardel, Peter, 224

Harecurt, William de, 88

Harley (Harele), Richard de, 219, 258,

260

Harold, King, 15
Harrod, Henry, 162, 200
Harsick, John de, 213
Hastang, John de, 267, 268, 308

- Thomas, son of, 267, 268, 308

Thomas de, 153, 184, 216, 222, 323
Hastings, Anne (Ratcliffe), 323

Henry de, 144, 224

family, 212

Hauberk, Nicholas, 323, 339
Haughmond, abbots of :

R. (undated), 37

Alured (undated), 37

Ralph (c. 1195), 87

(1244), 116
(1297), 208, 242

Hawems, Richard de, 246

Hawise Gadarn, 296

Hay, Robert de la, 102

Hayes family, 10

Hedleg, William de, 84

Hemingburgh, Walter de, 197

Henley, William de, prior of Hospital

of St. John, 203, 236
Henry I, 8

II, ii, 31, 37, 122, 204, 351
Eleanor, Queen of, n

- Henry, eldest son of, 37
daughter of, 61

Ill, 75, 76, 80, no, in, 112, 120,

121, 228, 338, 352, 353, 355

IV, 339, 340, 374

- VI, 344

- VII, 347

of Almain, 127, 132, 133

Prince of Wales, afterwards Henry V,

340

Herbert, Florentia, 81
Herbertus (1166), 36
Hereford, Bishop of (1236), 102
(1241), 109

Earl of (Bohun), 242, 299, 325
Hereward, William, 306

Hert, Radulphus, 209

Robert, 71
Higginson, John, 39
Hodnet, Odo de, 145

William de, 261
Holebrook, Richard de, 233
Holm, Nicholas of, 208
Holme, Georgius de, 260

Roger, son of Nicholas de, 270
Holmes, Sir Richard, 373
Home-Drummond, Henry, 348

- Anne, daughter of, 348
Hoo, William de, 138
Hook, Walter F., Dean of Hereford, 236
Hopton, Thomas, 248
Hord, Willielmus, 258, 262
Horwood, Alfred J., 152
Hothum, William de, 252
Howard, Dorothy, daughter of Duke of
Norfolk, 323

John, Sir, 177, 271
jun., 177

Howard de Walden, Lord, 292 and ., 370
Howel ap Meyrick, 192
Hubert, Archbishop, 41
Hudson, Rev. William, 237
Huggeford, Nicholas de, 315
Humez, Richard de, Constable, 28

William de, 158, 159

Agatha, sister of, 158, 159

Hunstanton, Peter de, 5

Ralph de. See Herluin

Walter de, 5

William fitz William de, 12
Hunte, Walter le, 241
Huntingdon, Earl of, David, 159

Maud, wife of, 159

Henry Hastings, 323

Huntingfelde, W. de, 76
Huntingfield, Roger de, 213

Hys, Roger des, 4, 151. See Desys, Ys

INFANTE, Robert, provost of Shrewsbury,

Ingalthrop, Thomas de, 260

Ingham, Oliver de, 323, 328
Innocent VI, Pope, 318
Insula, Simon de, 186, 200
Isabeau, Queen of Jerusalem, 147
Isabel, daughter of Edward III, 320
Isabella of Angouleme, Queen, 71, 338
daughter of Philip of France, Queen

of Edward II, 162, 214, 246, 275,

276, 277, 278, 330
Ivo, Rainald son of, 13

INDEX OF PERSONS

JACOBIN, Acius, of Florence, 191

Jermem', Warin de, 93

Joan, illegitimate daughter of King John,

wife of Llewellyn ap lorwerth, 68,

Joan of Arc, 342
John, King, 66, 67, 69, 71, 72, 74, 75,

79, 84, 338, 352
XXII, Pope, 302

KANCIA, Walter de, 183, 228
Kendale, Robert de, 245

Margaret, wife of, 245

Keveolog, Hawisia de (de la Pole), 165

Kinaston, Humphrey (wild), 218

Kmeley, Walter de, 109

Kirketon, Alexander de, 227

Knockin, John of, 265, 266

Roger de, 266

Knovill, Bogo de, 172, 188, 202, 206, 288

Eleanor le Strange de Blancminster,

wife of, 206

Kyatrino, Pelegrin, of Lucca, 191
Kynaston, Richard, 339
Kynenarstone, Griffin de, 258, 262

LACY, Alice de, 272. See Strange, le,
Alice

Henry de, 282

John de, Earl of Lincoln, 159, 327

Walter de, 115

de. See Lincoln, Earl of
Lancaster, Duke of (John of Gaunt), 321

Earl of, Henry Plantagenet, 308, 327
Edmund, brother of Edward I,

198, 199, 227

Thomas Plantagenet, 220, 254,

267, 272, 273, 275, 285, 295, 296,
298, 299, 300, 325, 359, 360

Lankes, William de, 92

Lathe, Thomas de la, 213

Latimer (Latymer), William de, 227, 291

Lawe, John de la, 92

Ralph de la, 80

Lee, John de, 4, 155, 156, 301
Lefwinus, praepositus, 5
Leghes, Hugh de, 316

William, son of, 316
Leghton, John, Lord of, 334

Richard de, 269
Leicester, Earl of, Edmund, 290

Henry Plantagenet, 304

. See Beaumont, Montfort

Leighton, Richard de, 252

family of, 252

Leoninus, son of Leoninus, 146

Leringsete, Galfridus de, 12

Leuvise, Agnes, 94

' Levediesneve ' Lestrange, Geoffrey the,

270

Lexington, John de, 106
Leybourn, Roger de, 128, 134, 135

Simon de, 248
John, son of, 248

Catherine, daughter of, 248

Leyburne, John de, 313

Leylonde, Richard de, 305, 311

Litchfield, Bishop of, 309

Lincoln, Bishop of (1284), 233 ; (1324),

304

Countess of. See Lacy

Earl of, Henry de Lacy, 175, 199
Lisewis, William de, 47

Llewelyn, son of Meredudd (1242),
"3

ap lorwerth, the Great (d. 1240), 68,

71, 72, 73, 76, 78, 80, 100, 101, 102,

103, 104, 105, 175, 299, 354
Joan, illegitimate daughter of

King John, wife of, 103
David, son of, 101, 103, 106.

See David
Griffith, son of, 106

ap Griffith (d. 1282), 119, 121, 123,

124, 125, 127, 128, 130, 132, 137,
142, 145, 162, 187-198, 202, 204
Lloyd, Edward, 186

Kenyon, Mr., 69
Llwyd, Morgan, 269
Lodbrook, John de, 221
Lodelowe, John de, 315
Lodewyche, Geoffrey de, 200

Roger de, 200
Longchamp, Henry de, 141
Longespee, Maud, 195
Loppington, Alexander de, 54

Richard de, 55
Loreng, Roger le, 243
Louel, Johannes, 260

Louis IX, King of France, 121, 130, 132,

Lovel, William, 267
Lucca, merchant of, 201
Lucy, Geoffrey de, 248

Reginald de, 248

Richard de, 28

Walter de, 248

Eleanor, daughter of, 248

Matilda, daughter of, 248

383

Ludlow, John de, 201, 205

Isabel, wife of, 205, 206

Lawrence de, 261

Agneta, widow of, 260, 261, 262

William, son of, 260, 261, 262

Matilda, wife of, 261

- William de, 257, 258, 260
Lusignan, Hugh de, 338

Alice, daughter of, 338

Lusignans, the, 338

Luvel, John, 234

Luvet, Henry, 76

Lymberg (Lumbe), Adam de, 302, 303,

306

MADOG ap Griffith, 78, 118, 215, 216

illegitimate son of Llewelyn ap Griffith,

205

Maelgwm, son of Maelgwm, 108
Malpas, Audoenus de, 12
March, Earl of, Patrick Dunbar, 279
Marescal, Peter, 85
Mareschal, Ralph le, 250, 251
Margaret, daughter of Henry III, 122
Mariscalla, Alicia, 94
Markham, Clements, Sir, 373

Hastings, Sir, 373
Martin, prior of Thetford, 15
Matilda, Empress, 25
Maulay, Peter de, 73
Maunsel, Robert, 90

Mabel, wife of, 90

Meredudd Goch, 120

Meschin, Ranulph de, Earl of Chester,
157, 158, 159, 160

Mabel, daughter of, 157, 158

Metz, Guarin de, 2, 3, 8

Middleton, Lord, 330

Mohun de Dunster, John, 2nd Lord,

335. 342

Elizabeth, daughter of, 342

Philippa, daughter of, 342

Maud, daughter of, 342

- Joan de, 335
Mold, Roger de, 192
Moncrieffe, Thomas, Sir, 7th Bart, 348

Louisa, daughter of, 348

Monmouth, John of, 100, 108, 113, 116
Montalt, Joan de, 161

Robert de, 213, 267, 270

Roger de, 114, 161

Robert, son of, 161

Roger, son of, 161

Montfort, Eleanor de, wife of Llewelyn
ap Griffith, 189

Peter de, 124, 145, 225, 231, 326

Simon de, Earl of Leicester, 116, 120,

124, 126, 127, 128, 130-136, 141,
144, 224, 299, 354, 357, 360

Montgomery, Baldwin de, 120

Montibus, Eubulus de, 272

More, Roger de la, 83

Simon de la, 12

Willelmus de la, 12
Morgan of Caerleon, 102
Morley, William, 348

Mary, daughter of, 348

Morris, George, 84

J. E., 32, 187, 193, 205
Mortain, Robert de, 7
Mortimer, Constantine de, 213

Edmund de, 193, 195

Isabella de, 231

John de (1313), 267

Robert de, 63, 76

Roger de, 127, 130, 132, 133, 135, 142,

176, 187, 188, 190, 192, 193, 194,

228, 267

wife of, 195

Earl of March, 275, 276, 296

of Chirk, 220

family of, 212, 299
Moryn, William, 221

Mowbray, (Moubray), Matilda de, 246

de, 246

John, son of, 246

William de, 229

Roger, son of, 229, 230

Mucegros, Walter de, 137, 139, 204

Mules, Johannes de, 210

Murray, Charlotte, Baroness Strange, 348,

349

George, 348

of Glencarse, Amelia, 348

Mustrell (Musterol, Mustroyl), Adam de,

I55 J 5 6 . l68
Hamon, son of, 4, 156

NECTON, Roger de, 51, 52
Nevill, Hugh, son of John de, 241
Newton, Charles, Sir, 373
Nicholas IV, Pope, 237, 239, 358
Nicholaus, filius praepositi de Ringstead,

I0 5

Nicolas, Harris, Sir, 211
Noel, Thomas, 22, 39, 42
Noiers, William de, 16, 18

INDEX OF PERSONS

Norfolk, Duke of, Thomas de Mowbray,

321

Earl of (1279), 242
Norman, John, 200
NonnanviH, Thomas de, 230
Northampton, Earl of, 314
Northumberland, 2nd Duke of, 348

Emily Frances, daughter of, 348

Norwich, Bishop of, John of Oxford, 60

Note, William, 253

Nottingham, Earl of, Thomas de

Mowbray, 288, 321, 361
Nutus of Florence, 230

ODDINGESELES, William de, 118
Offechirche, William de, 179
Oilli, H. de, Constable, 28
Oirri, Fulk de, 22, 29, 45, 46, 75
Matilda, wife of, 29

Geoffrey de, 150
Oketon, John de, 227
Oldynton, Thomas de, 315
Ord, Craven, 329
Orderic-Vitalis, 10
Orget, Roger, 89
Osgodby, Adam de, 255

Ossory, Earl of, Thomas Butler, 348

Elizabeth, daughter of, 348

Otho, Cardinal (1237), 104
Ottobone, Cardinal, 142
Overton, Adam de, 312
Owen ap Meuricus, 237

Edmondes, Rev., 195

son of Griffith ap Llewelyn, 127

son of Hoel, 109

Oxford, Earl of, Robert de Vere, 214

PAGRAVE, Willelmus de, 36

Pain, Randulphus, 258

Palgrave, Francis, Sir, 145

Pandulph, William, 78

Parkin, Charles, 46

Pateshull, Hugh, Bishop of Coventry,
no

Pauncefot, Emeric, 325, 326

Grimbald, 233

Paynel family, 10

Pebbe, Hugh, 316

Pecche, Gilbert, 338

Peckham, John, Archbishop of Canter-
bury, 231, 236

Pedwardynne, Thomas, 341

Pembroke, Earl of, Aymer de Valence, 299

Richard Marshal, 101

Penynton, Philip de, 315
Percies, the, 339
Percy, Henry (Hotspur), 339
Perepunt, Simon de, 14
Perers, Richard de, 51
Joan, wife of, 51

Robert de, 253
Pershore, abbot of (1254), I21
Peshale, Adam de, 313
Petigard, Roger (jun.), 178
Petraponte, Alan de, 70
Peverel, William, 2, 3

Melette, niece of, 2
Philip ap Howel, 312

Philip Augustus, King of France, 66, 71

Philip V, King of France, 301

Philippa of Hainault, Queen of Edward

HI, 330

Pichford, Ralph de, 46, 85, 86, 98, 105
Margery, wife of. See Strange, le,

of Knockin

Burgia, daughter of, 85, 105

Pinto, Beatrix, 288

Plaiz, Hugh de, Pedigree I, 14, 63

Helewisa de, daughter of, Pedigree

I, 14

Ralph de, son of, Pedigree I, 14, 15

Ralph de, le Neven, 15

Plantagenet, Henry, 285
Plumstede, William de, 253
Podio, Aynerus de, 212
Poer, Alan le, 89

Amicia, wife of, 89

John, son of, 89

Pole, Griffith de la, of Powys, 269, 296,

300

Lewis, de la, 189, 238

Owen de la, 163, 164, 202, 205

Griffith, brother of, 164, 194, 195

Griffith, son of, 164

Hawyse, daughter of, 164

Pope Boniface VII, 211

Nicholas. See Taxation
Powis, Maurice de, 84

Roger, 28
Poygne, Robert, 183
Pres, Philip de, 109
Pride, Rogerus, 166
Priketone, Roger de, 177

QUINCY, Robert de, 159

Hawyse, wife of, 159

Margaret, daughter of, 159

INDEX OF PERSONS

385

RALPH the Earl, de Guader, 16
Rampaigne, John de, 68, 69
Ramsey (Rameseye), abbot of, 60, 238
Randulphus, Galfridus, 258
Ranulphus, parson of Hunstanton, 12
Ratlesdene, Thomas de, 177

Richard de, 177

Sabina de, 177
Reading, Robert of, 272, 273
Redvers, Margaret de, 369

Reiner, son of Martin, provost of Shrews-
bury, 150

Renham, Geoffrey de, chaplain, Hun-
stanton, 200

Revesby, abbot of, 283

Reviers, Richard de, 10

Reyner, Bishop, 83

Rhiwallon (Rivallonus, Rualdus, Roland),

Rhys ap Griffith ap Ednyved Vychan,

158, 162, 175, 176, 184
Gruff yd Llwyd, son of, 176

ap Maredudd, 202, 203, 355
Richard I, King, 42, 61, 62, 66, 67,

352

King of the Romans, 129, 132, 134

son of Henry II, 38

- II, King, 321, 332, 333, 334, 337

Ill, King, 347

' Rogeres Chaumberleyn Lestraunge

of Knokyn,' 327

- the Smith of Hunstanton (1285), 200
Rishanger, William de, 128, 132
Riuallon of Dol, 7

William, son of, 7

Riuallonides, Geoffrey, 7

Rivaulx, Peter de, 101

Roche, Robert de la, 208, 260

Roches, Peter des, Bishop of Winchester,

101

Rogerus Faber (c. 1170), 5
Rohere, Richard della, 191
Romayn (Romano), Peter de, parson of

Rougham, 96
Romseye, abbess of, 234
Ros, Robert de, 122
Rougham, Thomas, son of John, son of

the parson of, 96
Round, J. Horace, 7, 9, 10
Rupa, John, Baron de, 348
Dorothea Helena, daughter of,

348
Rus, Alan le, 95

Richard le, 51
Rushbury, Hubert de, 87
Russell, William, 91

Rusticus, Ricardus, provost of Shrews-
bury, 150

Rutland, Earl of, Edward, 339
Rye, Walter, 46, 166, 176, 201
Ryvers, Roger de, 210

SACKVILLE, Jordan de, 47
Sad, Roger, 178

Mirielle, widow of, 178

Helewisa, daughter of, 178

St. Amand, Amaury de, 104

St. Armand, Guy de, 248

St. Asaph, Bishop of, Reyner (c. 1205), 70

(1240), 7 1 . IO 8

Anian, Eineon (1287), 173, 289

(1318), 215

St. Benet of Ramsey, 18
St. John, John de, 238, 239

Robert de, 86

family, 10

St. Martin, Richard de, 273
St. Pierre, Urian de, 267

Margaret, daughter of, 267

St. Pol and Conversan, Count of, Peter

de Luxembourg, 344
St. Wynewalocus, Prior of, 238
Salisbury, Countess of, 272. See Lacy

Elizabeth Mohun, 342

Sancto Petro, Urianus de, 141
Sanford, Nicholas de, 301

Ralph de, 91
Saues, Gilebertus de, 73
Say, Emma de, 62

Philip de, clerk of Roger le Strange, 238

rector of Halnet, 250

Schawburia, Robert de, 44

Wido, brother of, 44

Schohies, William, 13

Schreue, Nicholas, 177

Scott-Gatty, Alfred, Sir (Garter King

of Arms), 369, 373
Scrop, Henricus le, 262
Scudamore, Alice, daughter of Owen

Glendower, 216
Secheford (Seggeford, Sedgeford), William

de, 155, 260, 270
Segrave family, 212
Sewald (Seward, Siward), 16, 46
Shernbourne, Andrew de, 4
Shirleye, Ralph de, 222
Shrewsbury, abbot of, 29, 69, 77

Hugh, 64

(1284), 234

ist Earl of, John Talbot, 322, 361

7th Earl of, Gilbert Talbot, 322

2 c

INDEX OF PERSONS

Shrewworthin, Luvekinus de, 149
Sibeton, Johannes de, 262, 293
Silkeston, Robert de, 286
Snoring, Naringes, Basilia de, 95
Snowdon, Lord of, 101, 102
Snyterton, Thomas de, 260
Somery, Joan de. See Strange of
Knockin, John IV

John de, 159

Hawyse Paganel, wife of, 159

Ralph, son of, 158, 159

William, son of, 159

Nicholas, son of, 159

Roger de, son of Ralph, 128, 154, 155,

i57 158, 159, 167
Nicola de Albini, wife of, 159, 160,

167

Margaret, daughter of, 159

Joan, daughter of, 159, 160

Mabel, daughter of, 159

Matilda, daughter of, 159

Sondford, Richard de, 315
Soor, John le, 221
Spalding, prior of, 279, 281
Spark, Robert, 270
Spencer, John, 323

Alice, daughter of, 323

Sporle, prior of, 238
Sprenghoese, Roger, 80
Stafford, Baron and Earl of, 316

Nicholas, Lord, 200
Stamford, John de, 244
Stanford, Albin de, 151

Stanley, Amelia Ann Sophia, 348, 349
- Anne, 323

Elizabeth, 323, 348

Frances, 323

George, summoned as Lord Strange

of Knockin, 323, 346, 347

Henrietta, Baroness Strange, 348

James (1628), 347, 348, 349

Thomas, Lord. See Derby

William, 347
Stanton, Henricus de, 262
Stapleton, Miles, 323, 328, 329, 331

Oliver de, 329

William de, 171

Burga, wife of, 171

Staundon, Vivian de, 315
Staunford, John de, 246
Stepelton, Robert de, 201

Stephen, Chaplain de insula de Wilfreton,
204

King, 25
Stevenson, Mr., 124
Stigand, Bishop, 16, 18

Stonham, John de, 51, 52
Strange of Alveley and Weston :

Guy le (Eudo or Wido), (1155-1179),

Pedigree I, 3, 9, 20, 22, 23, 26, 27,

29, 30. 3L 33. 34. 35. 36-43, 47,

48, 54, 64, 87, 95, 352

Mary, wife of, Pedigree I, 22, 39, 40

Ralph, son of (1179-1195), 22, 35,

40, 41, 43, 44, 45, 47, 54, 62, 64, 65,

88, 95. 352
Guy, son of, 35, 40

Hamon, son of, 35, 37, 39, 40

Peter, son of, 22, 37

Roger, son of, 22, 39, 40

Margaret, daughter of, 22, 39,

40, 42
Joan (or Juliana), daughter of,

22,^40, 42

Matilda, daughter of, 22, 40, 42,

43
Strange of Berrington :

Hugh le, 181

John, brother of, 181
Strange of Betton :

Fulk le (son of Fulk of Whitchurch),

207, 288, 300, 303, 304, 370

Margaret, daughter of, 207, 288
Joan, daughter of, 207, 288

Eleanor, daughter of, 207, 288
Strange of Blackmere (or Whitchurch),

289-322, Pedigree, 288

Robert le (1266-1276), 98, 153, 170-

175, 288, 289, 360
Alianora de Blancminster, wife

of, 98, 153, 172, 173, 174, 175, 288,

289, 290, 360
John, son of (1276-1289), 153,

173, 174, 185, 207, 288, 289, 290
Robert le, son of, 153, 174, 175,

185, 206, 272, 288

Fulk le (ist Lord Strange of Black-

mere), 153, 172, 173, 174, 185, 206,
211, 220, 247, 248, 250, 257, 258,
260, 262, 264, 272, 288, 289-305,
360

Eleanor Giffard, wife of, 153, 288,

292, 293, 303, 304, 307

John le (2nd Lord Strange of Black-

mere), 206, 288, 294, 303, 305-317,

320, 360, 361
Ankaret le Botiler, wife of, 288,

306, 316, 317, 318, 320
Fulk, brother of. See Strange of

Betton
Hamon, brother of. See Strange

of Cheswardine

INDEX OF PERSONS

387

Strange of Blackmere, John le Elizabeth,
sister of, 288, 302, 304, 309

Fulk le (3rd Lord Strange of Black-

mere), 288, 316, 317-318, 320, 361

Elizabeth Stafford, wife of, 288,

316, 318, 320

John le (4th Lord Strange of Black-

mere), 288, 304, 317, 318-320, 361
Mary fitz Alan, wife of, 288,

318, 319, 361

Hamon le, brother of, 288, 317

Eleanor le, sister of, 288, 317

John le (5th Lord Strange of Black-

mere), 207, 288, 319, 320^-321, 361

Isabel Beauchamp, wife of, 288,

320, 321

Elizabeth (Baroness Strange of Black-

mere), 288, 321, 361

Ankaret (Baroness Strange of Black-

mere), 288, 319, 322, 361

Gilbert, Lord Talbot (8th Lord

Strange of Blackmere), 288, 322,
361

Ankaret (Baroness Strange of Black-

mere), 288, 322, 361

John Talbot, afterwards Earl of

Shrewsbury (zoth Lord Strange of
Blackmere), 288, 322
Strange of Cheswardine :

Hamon (third son of Fulk, ist Lord

Strange of Blackmere), 207, 247,
248, 288, 297, 300, 303, 304, 306,

307, 315

Margaret, wife of, 288, 293, 304

Strange of East Walton, Norfolk, 176-

180

Benedict le, 176, 177, 180

Ida, wife of (1228), 177, 180

Roger, son of, 176, 180

Roger le, son of Roger (before 1331),

90, 1 80
Martin, nephew of, 178,

1 80
William, son of (d. before 1312),

90, 176, 177, 178, 180
Matilda, wife of (1327),

178, 1 80

Roger le, son of William (1327),

177, 178, 199, 180

Joan, wife of (1346), 179, 180

Thomas, son of (1348), 178, 180

William, son of (1353), 178, 180

Roger le, perpetual vicar of East

Walton (1316), 177

Robert le (1346), 176

John le (1376), 179, 180

Strange of Ellesmere :

Hamon le (second son of John III of

Knockin), (1253-1272), 98, 140-
149, g.v.
Isabel d'Ybelin, wife of, 98

Roger le (third son of John III of

Knockin), (1260-1311), 98, 153, 163,
167, 185, 187, 188, 189, 192, 193,
194, 196, 197, 198, 200, 202, 203,
205, 211, 215, 223-249, 252, 266,
355. 357. 358, 372

Maud de Beauchamp, first wife

of, 98, 153, 229, 230, 245, 246, 357

Matilda * * *, second wife of, 98,

153, 245, 247, 248, 249

John, illegitimate son of, 247, 248,

303. 306

Lucia, illegitimate daughter of, 247,

248. See Leybourne
Strange of Ercall. See Strange of
Knockin

John le (1305-1309), 249, 250, 257,

258, 260, 262

Matilda, wife of, 250

Strange of Fransham, 94-96

Roger le, 94, 95, 96

Alice, wife of (1206), 94, 96

Richard Rufus, nephew of, 94,

John, son of (1242), 95, 96, 251

Beatrice, wife of (1244), 95,

Alexander le, son of John (1275-

1296), 96, 250, 252

Roger le (1302-1324), 250, 251

Henry le (1292-1316), 251

Joan, wife of, 251

Strange of Hunstanton :

Roland (Rhiwallon, Ruallus) le (c.

1 1 12), Pedigree I, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, n, 20,
22, 23, 32, 36, 45, 352

Matilda le Brun, wife of, Pedigree I,

5, 22, 32, 36, 83, 169

Hamon le, second son of John V of

Knockin, 220, 256-269
Strange of Leighton :

Roger le (1299), 252
Roger, nephew of, 252

John le (c. 1350), 334

Walter, brother of, 334

Strange of Litcham, Norfolk :

Ralph le (I), son of Siward, 44, 45,

47. 48, 53. 177

Durannus (Durand) le (c. 1160), son

of Ralph (I), 5, 47, 48, 49, 50, 53

Prudentia, wife of, 47, 48, 49, 53

2 c 2

INDEX OF PERSONS

Strange, Ralph le (II), son of Durannus,

48, 49, 50, 53, 94

Agnes, wife of, 47, 48, 53, 94

Ralph le (III), son of Ralph (II)

(1225), 47, 49, 5. 53
Roger, brother of, 49, 53

John (I), son of Ralph (III), (1259-

1294), 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 93,
286
Isabella, wife of (1278-1316), 47,

49, 5 1 - 52, 53

John le (II), son of John (I), (1293-

1305). 47. 48, 5. 5 1 . 5 2 . 53, 93,
286
dementia, wife of (1316), 47, 48,

51, 52, 53, 93, 286
Ralph (IV), brother of (1302), 47,

48, 53, 286
Strange of Longnor. See Strange of

Betton

Fulk, second son of Fulk, ist Lord

Strange of Blackmere, 207, 288,
300, 303, 304, 370
Margaret, daughter of, 207, 288,

304
Joan, daughter of, 207, 288, 304.

See Careles
Eleanor, daughter of, 207, 288,

304. See Acton
Strange of Loppington :

Adam le, 54

*** de Loppington, wife of, 54

William, son of, 55

John, son of, 55

Strange of Middle :

John le (1329-1338), 308, 310, 3ii

Edward le (1348), 308, 309
Strange of Ness and Knockin :

John le (I), (1135-1178), Pedigree I, 3,

5, 9, ii, 12, 13, 14, 20, 22, 23-57,
223, 351
Hawise, wife of, Pedigree I, 22, 35,

58, 114
Guy, brother of. See Strange of

Alveley
Mary, wife of. See Strange

of Alveley
Hamon, brother of (1153-1159),

Pedigree I, 3, 5, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26,

28, 29, 30, 32, 36, 39, 43, 48, 70, 206,

240, 352
Ralph, of Little Ercall, brother

of (1160-1182), Pedigree I, 5, 12,

20, 22, 23, 36, 42, 43-45, 46, 208,

SS 2
Roland, son of, 22, 44, 46

Strange of Ness and Knockin : (continued,}.
Matilda, daughter of, 22, 44,

45, 46. See Oirri
Emma, daughter of, 22, 44,

45. See Burnham

John le (II), (1178-1234), 35, 39, 41,

47, 58, 59-97, 64, 98, 290, 352, 353,

355
Amicia, wife of, 58, 61, 82, 83,

85, 98
Hamon, brother of, 58, 63, 67,

83-85, 8 4 , 252

Ralph, brother of, 58, 66, 83, 85

unnamed niece of, 73

William, clerk, brother of (1188-

1223), 41, 61, 86-91, 87, 208
Amicia, daughter of (1235), 58,

89. See Poer
Margery, daughter of, 46, 85-86,

98, 105. See Pichford

John le (III), (1234-1269), 72, 86,

98-140, 151, 153, 223
Lucia de Tregoz, wife of, 98, 100,

153

Hamon, brother of (1221-1229), 98

Hamon (Crusader), son of (1221-

1272), 77, 98, 120, 121, 122, 124,
126-137, J 39> 140-149, 153, 163,
169, 170, 171, 175, 185, 198, 224,
225, 226, 231, 288, 291, 354, 372.
See Strange of Ellesmere

Roger, son of (1260-1311), 136,

140, 145, 153, 169. See Strange
of Ellesmere

Robert, son of (1260-1276), 125,

136, 138, 140, 145, 146, 148, 153,
154, 155, 165, 167, 169, 170-175,
224, 372. See Strange of Black-
mere

Hawyse, daughter of (1242-1310),

125, 140, 145, 153, 163, 164, 165,
224, 296, 355. See Griffith ap
Gwenwynwyn

Alice, daughter of (1260-1275),

125, 140, 153

John le (IV), (1253-1275), 3, 4, 98,

120, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 137,
154-176, 256, 354, 355

John le (IV), Joan de Somery, wife

of, 98, 153, 154, 156, 157, 158, 159,
160, 186, 191, 199, 221, 355

Margaret, daughter of (1284), 175,

176. See Rhys ap Griffith

John le (V), (1271-1309), (ist Lord

Strange of Knockin), 153, 157, 163,
184-223, 254, 257, 271, 292, 323, 355

INDEX OF PERSONS

389

Strange of Ness and Knockin: (continued).

John le (V) (continued).
Alianora ***, first wife of (1276),

153, 184, 185, 186, 221, 323
Maud d'Eiville, second wife of,

(1299-1309), 153, 184, 186, 210, 216,

221, 222, 254, 256, 271, 323, 369

Hamon, of Hunstanton, son of

(1282-1317), 184, 206, 207, 223,
254, 265-270, 271, 323, 359, 372

Margaret Vernon, wife of, 184,

206, 207, 254, 259, 268, 323

Eubulo, son of (1313-1335), 184,

223, 254, 271-286, 323, 326, 327,

359, 372
Alice de Lacy, wife of (1294-

1348), 184, 223, 254, 271-286, 323,

326, 327, 359
Elizabeth, daughter of (1304),

184, 215, 216, 223, 254, 323, 356.

See Griffith ap Madog

John le (VI), (1282-1311), (2nd Lord

Strange of Knockin), 184, 212, 218,
223, 254, 255-287, 308, 323, 358

Isolda (Yseult, Ysoude), wife of,

184, 254, 256, 257, 258, 260, 261,
262, 263, 265, 267, 268, 269, 323, 325

Hamon le, son of Hamon (I) of

Hunstanton, 268, 269

Edmund le, son of Hamon (I) of

Hunstanton, 268, 269

John le (3rd Lord Strange of Knockin),

(1296-1323), 323, 324-326
Maud , wife of, 323, 325, 326

Roger le (4th Lord Strange of

Knockin), (1289-1349), 281, 284,

285, 323, 325, 326-329, 359
Maud ***, first wife of, 323, 328,

329
Joan de Ingham, second wife of,

323, 328, 329, 331, 334

Roger le (5th Lord Strange of

Knockin), (1326-1382), 323, 327,
328, 329, 331-334, 338
Aleyne fitz Alan, wife of, 323, 331,

332, 334, 335, 336, 337, 338
Roger, son of (1377-1394), 323,

332, 333, 337, 340, 34i
Eubulo, son of (1385-1411), 323,

334, 335, 337, 338
Lucy, daughter of (1405), 323,

334. See Willoughby d'Eresby

John le (6th Lord Strange of Knockin),

(1352-1397), 323, 332, 335-339
Maud de Mohun, wife of, 323,

335, 336, 337, 338, 339, 342

Strange of Ness and Knockin : (continued).
Richard le (7th Lord Strange of

Knockin), (1382-1449), 277, 323,

339-343, 344, 345
Constantia, or Joan, Grey, first

wife of, 323, 340, 345
Elizabeth Cobham, second wife

of, 323, 342, 344, 345

John le (8th Lord Strange of

Knockin), 1444-1479), 323, 344-346
Jacquetta Wydville, wife of, 323,

344, 345

Joan le (Baroness Strange of Knockin),

(1463-1514), 323, 345, 346-347

Thomas, Earl of Derby (loth Lord

Strange of Knockin), 323

Edward, Earl of Derby (nth Lord

Strange of Knockin), 323

Henry, Earl of Derby (i2th Lord

Strange of Knockin), 323

Ferdinando, Earl of Derby (i3th Lord

Strange of Knockin), 323
Strange, barony of, by writ of 1628, 347-

350
Strange of Oswestry :

John le (1258), 181

Richard le (c. 1292), 181

John le (1302), 181

Juliana le (1302), 181

William le (1302), 181

Richard le (1331-1342), 329
son of (1352), 329

Madoc le (1341), 329

Philip le (1342), 329

Thomas le (1342), 329

Roger le (1352), 329

Strange of Whitchurch. See Strange

of Blackmere
Strange, Adam, son of Hamon (1172), 39

( II 77), 54, 55

Agatha le (1229-33), 9 2

held Wulfricheston, 92

Sibilla, sister of, 92

Alan, 92

Geoffrey, of Exeter (1242), 149

Guy le, son of mythical Duke of

Brittany, 2

Guy and Roger his son, Castleacre,

Guy le (1916), 147

Hamo le (1179), 54

Henry le (c. 1205), 91
(1245), M9

son of Ralph of Brocton (c. 1205),

9i, 369
Styleman L" Estrange, 256

INDEX OF PERSONS

Strange, Hormus, 92

(c. 1177), 35, 54

John, brother of, 54

Hugh le (1203), 93

son of Hugh, of Fransham (1291),

Ida, damsel of Queen Philippa (1332),

John le, at Badger (1174), 54

a canon (c. 1176), 35, 55, 310

at Snoring (1242), 95

son of Ralph (1272), 182

de la March = John V of Knockin,

vicar of Frome (1310), 286, 287

King's clerk (1334). 3 12

King's sergeant (1346), 313

? of Litcham, 251

son of Thomas le (1216), 55

of Rode, Somerset (1229), 86

Mabel le, daughter of Warin de

Buwardsley, 8

Matilda le, prioress of Carrow (1198),

45- 46

sister of William le (1199), 88

wife of Richard de Leighton

(1299), 252

Nicholas le (1206), 94

Peter le, son of Hamon, 37

Philip, son of Ralph le, 251

Philip le (1265), 150

Reginald le (c. 1157), 55

Richard le, in Devon (1159), 55, 56
son of Durand le, of Shrewsbury

(c. 1230), 150
son of Thomas le, of Shrewsbury

(c. 1230), 150
chaplain (1378), 334

Robert le (? of Litcham), (c. 1240),

15. 151

Roger le, rector of Hodnet (1244),

149

? of Litcham (c. 1250), 149

Matilda, wife of, 149

son of John le (1305), 253

Simon le (1233), 97

Stephen le (1275), Yorkshire, 182

Thomas le (1302), 252

of Knockin (1378), 334

Lucy, wife of, 334

Alice, sister of, 334

(1415). 343

of Walton (1425), 343

constable of Chirk (1426), 343
(1346), 313, 328

William le (1190), 87

Strange, William le : (continued) .

William and John, sons of, 87

. (1224), 90

in Devon (1292), 182, 183

Stratton, John de, 138
Street, George Edmund, 173
Strongeford, William de, 244
Sturney, John de (Admiral), 271
Stuteville, William de, 49
Suffolk, William, 2nd Earl of, 288
Suleye (Sully, Sudeley), Walter de, 158,

159. 199

Mabel, wife of, 158, 159, 199

Surrey, Earl of, John de Warenne, 311,

327

Sutton, Gruffyd de, ap Gervase Coch,
22, 42

Ivo de, 294

John, Lieutenant of Ireland, 343

Madoc de, 138, 170

Richard de, 51
Swatman, Alan, 162

Swinfield, Richard de, Bishop of Here-
ford, 131

TALBOT, Gilbert, 3rd Lord, 322

Richard, son of, 4th Lord, 288,

319, 322, 361
Tany, Luke de, 193, 233
Tatteshall, Robert de, 51
Thetford, Bishop of (1086), 16, 18, 19
Thirne, Reginald de, 84
Thomas ap Madoc, 231
Thorp, Johannes de, 179, 213

Alicia, wife of, 213

Thouars, Claud, Due de, 348
Tiptoft, Robert de, 203
Titchwell (Tychewelle), Herveus de, 4
Barbota, wife of, 4

Gilbert de, 4

Wido de, 44
Toftes, Roger de, 4
Toni, Robert de, 251

Tout, Professor T. F., 7, 25, 66, 86, ill,
128, 142, 163, 175, 215, 216, 271,
273, 302 n., 328, 338, 364, 365

Townsend, Francis, 274

Tregoz, Robert de, 100, 139

Juliana, wife of, 139

John, son of, 139

Lucia, daughter of, 139

Tremouille, Charlotte de la, 348

Trenchefil, Philip de, 210

Trikingham, Lambert de, 262

Tristram, William, 4

INDEX OF PERSONS

39 1

Trokelowe, John de, 194 and n.
Tronwell, John de, chaplain, 2o
Trossebot, William de, 10
Trussel, William, 120
Trussell, John (or Thomas), 341
Turberville, Hugh de, 134, 135
Turbus, William, Bishop of Norwich, 12
Turville, G. A., Archdeacon of Dublin,

92
Tychewell, Gilbertus de, 155. See Titch-

well
Tyre, William of, 147

UBBESTON, John de, 191
Urban IV, Pope, 131
V, Pope, 319
Urtiaco, Henry de, 238

VALE ROYAL, abbot of, 231
Vaux (Vallibus), John de, 128

Peter de, 157

Nicholas, Lord V. of Harrowden,

248

William, 248

Ventrer, Adam le, 170
Vere, Geoffrey de, 33, 36, 37
Vernon, Margaret, 266

Ralph, 254, 267

Richard de, 267

Robert, 267
Vychan, Ednyved, 175

Eineon, 81

Griffith ap Griffith, 216

Gruffydd, 215, 216

WAKE, Thomas, 278

Waleran, John, nephew of, 16, 17, 18

Waleranum Teutonicum, 101

Wallace, William, 207

Walsham, John de, parson of Little

Snoring, 51

Walsingham, Thomas of, 272
Wappenbury, Richard de, 22, 42
Warenne, William de (II), Earl of Surrey

(d. 1138), 5, 45
John de, Earl of Surrey (d. 1305),

127, 128, 192, 194, 195, 215, 216,

338

Earl of Surrey, Alice, daughter of,

338

Warenne, John de, Earl of Surrey (d.

1347). 273. 297, 304, 331, 338

Earl of Surrey, Alice, sister of, 331

Warwick, Earl of, Guy Beauchamp, 221

Thomas Beauchamp, 320

William de Beauchamp (d. 1298),

241

Ela, Countess of, daughter of William

de Longespee, 234
Waryn, Richard, of Grimston, 177

Isabella, wife of, 177

Webbe, Henry le, 316

Welle, Adam de, 286

Welles, Felicia de, widow of Adam de,

Wellesborne, Philip, vicar of, 179
Wenlock, prior of (1236), 102 ; (1244),

116

Henry (1309), 256, 257, 258, 261

Wesenhamtorpe, Adam de, 50

Alan de, 50

Westacre, prior of, William, 177

Wetenale, Richard de, 315

Whitchurch (or Blancminster), William

de, 172

Berta, daughter of, 172

Eleanor, daughter of, 172. See

Strange of Blackmere

Johanna, daughter of, 172

Matilda, daughter of, 172

Wigmore, abbot of, 35

Wileley (Willilegh), Andrew de, 171

Burga, daughter of, 171

Nicholas de, 85, 105

William, the chaplain of Hunstanton

(1265), 201

the chaplain of Litcham, 5

I, King, 1 6

Williams, Edward, Rev., 173
Willoughby, John, 2nd Lord, 280. See
Wylugby

d'Eresby, William, 5th Lord, 323,

334

Wirham, Henry de, 51
Wiveleshoe, Humfrey de, 150

Matilda, wife of, 150

Wombridge, prior of, Philip, 300

Worcester, Earl of, Thomas, 339

Wretham, William de, 138

Wright, Thomas, 211

Wrottesley, George, General Hon., 313

and n., 328, 343 n.
Wydville, Richard, Earl Rivers, 344
Wylugby, Johan de, 286

Richard de, 279
Wylynton, Ralph de, 311

392

INDEX OF PERSONS

Wyndesor, Phelipot de, valet of John
le Strange (V), 214

YBELIN (Isabeau), Isabelle d', 147, 153.
See Baruth, Dame de

Jehan d', Sire de Baruth, 147, 148

Baudouin d', 147
Yevan ap Meiler, 215
Yol (Zoel), Roger, 178
Margaret, widow of, 178

York, abbot of St. Mary's, 279

Archbishop of (1272), 228, 299

Duchess of (Philippa de Mohun), 342
Ys, Roger des, 155. See Desys, Hys

ZOEL. See Yol
Zouche, Roger de la, 71

Alan, son of, 121, 182

Zuche, William la, 120, 144
Eudo, brother of, 144

INDEX OF PLACES

ABBETON, 200

Abdon, 33

Aberedw, 195

Abennule, 127

Acre, 237

Acton-Round, 293

Acton-Scott, 33, 200, 363

Aderdeleye, 305

Admaston, 186

Album monasterium. See Oswestry,

Whitchurch
Alcrynton, 179, 221
Aldescote, 186
Alkborough, 283
All Souls' College, 277, 332
Almain, 208, 239, 270
Alnetum, near St. Asaph, no
Alveley [Aluedelea, Alvithelegh], 27, 33,

36, 37. 38, 39, 4, 4i, 42, 87, 209,

352, 363
Church, 87
Alwett, 33

Amesbury, Great, 282
Amiens, 127

Amubdeby (Amotherby), 182
Anglesey, 189
AngoulSme, 73
Anjou, 10, 71, 80, 351
Aquitaine, 301, 302, 303, 306
Argegvoet, 163
Ashby, 71

Ashford (Derbyshire), 114
Assheton (Ashton), 306, 319
Astleye, 234
Aston, 181
Avignon, 316, 318
Avington, 282, 335
Aylesford, 56

Aylesswethesthorp (Ashwellthorpe), 178

and ., 179
Aynho, 141

BACTON, 206

Badenhoo, 283

Badger, 54

Badgworth, 307, 309, 317, 318

Balderston, 71

Baldreton, 209

Balscote, 179

Bangor, 233

Bannockburn, 297

Barbotesgate in Hunstanton, 4

Barcote, 186

Barling's Abbey, 283, 284

Barnham (Bernham), Suffolk, 4, 15, 63

Barrow-on-Soar, 158, 160, 161, 167

Barsham, East, 152, 201

Baschurch, 363

Basingwork, 188

Bassmere, in Middle, 326

Bayeux, 314

Bedford, 139, 229, 245, 246, 247, 253

Bedfordshire, 193, 236, 243, 244, 245

Beeston Castle, 106, 112, 113

Bere Castle, 190, 198, 205

Bereford, 246

Berkhampstead, 134, 277

Berkshire, 282

Bernoreby (Barnetby), 108

Berrington, 33, 181

Berwick-on-Tweed, 210, 212, 214, 220,

264, 279, 295, 297, 337, 359
Berwyn, Mts., 194, 195
Betton-Strange, 29, 30, 70, 206, 207,

303, 304, 309, 321, 352

393

394

INDEX OF PLACES

Bexwell, 13

Beyrouth (Baruth), 147

Beyton, 311

Bicester, 329, 332

Bilemere, 209

Bilney, 178

Binham, n, 34, 43

Birch-wood, at Ruyton, 69

Bircham Newton, 20

Bireton, 209

Bisham, 277, 280, 281, 282

Bittering, 48, 51

Blackmere, 321

Blakeney, 212, 271

Blancmoster. See Oswestry

Blandford, 282

Blendworth, 298

Bobbington, 108

Bocton (? Brocton), 301

Bolingbroke Castle, 283, 286, 327

Booton, 13

Bordeaux, 114, 149, 207

Boroughbridge, 272, 300, 325, 360

Boston, 212

Bosworth, 347

Bottington, 163

Bradebrugg, bridge of, 234

Bradele, 179

Bradenham, forest of, 241

Bradford Hundred, 364

Bradnop, 42

Brancaster (Broncestre), 20

Brecon, 190, 192, 194, 195

Breconshire, 282

Bridgnorth (Bruges), 37, 38, 41, 88, 103,

109, 127, 130, 133, 140
Free Chapel at, 87, 88, 119
Brighe, 317
Brill, 270
Brimsfield, 292
Brinsfield, 212, 307
Brisingham, 96
Bristol, 75, 134 ; Castle, 278
Brittany, 2, 80
Brocton, 90, 91, 300, 319
Bromcroft, 317
Bromfield, 192, 194, 202, 215, 337. See

Maelor

Bromham, 244, 246
Brothercross Hundred, 20
Broughton, 317, 318, 320
Bucgeton (Buxton), 93
Buckingham, 139, 202, 234
Buckinghamshire, 282, 332
Budrum Castle, 373, 374
Buildwas Abbey, 35, 40, 59, 66, 85, 212

Builth, 77, 190, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197,

237
Castle, 125, 190, 192, 193, 205, 277,

280, 281, 282, 284, 359
Burcestre, 282
Burton-on-Stather, 283
Buttington, 165, 167

CAEN, 314

Caereinion, 163

Caerlaverock, 210, 211, 243, 292, 357, 369

Caerleon, 102

Calais, 313, 315, 327, 331, 361

Caldecote, 157, 209, 326

Calverhale, 316

Cambridge, 186

Cambridgeshire, 200, 213, 221, 264, 282,

332

Camel, park at, 234
Campden, 168, 202, 205
Campesse, priory of St. Mary, 63
Cantreds, the four, no, 142
Cardigan Castle, 108
Carlisle, 209, 210, 217, 218, 243, 291,

293. 297

Carnarvon Castle, 189
Carreghova, silver mines, 41, 42, 62, 64,

352

Castle, 62, 63, 73
Carrow Abbey, 45, 46
Castile, 239

Castleacre, 5, 32, 34, 39, 43, 95
Castle Combe, barony of, 317

Rising, 161, 162
Catherington, 298
Caus, 66, 333
Caysho (Bedford), 244
Cefn-y-bedd, 196
Ceri, 127

Charlton-Mackerel, 334
Chartley (Salop), 234

(Staffordshire), 144, 198, 199, 227, 228
Chateau-Gaillard, 66

Chaucumb, 148

Chawton (Chalgton), 145, 146, 148, 170,
171, 172, 175, 290, 291, 294, 297,
298, 304, 306, 309, 310, 317, 318,

321, 365
Cheapside, 198
Chelmsford, 234, 240
ChepernolT, 224
Chersworth wood, 67
Cheshire, 137, 291
Chester, 109, 116, 118, 123, 188, 192,

202, 222

INDEX OF PLACES

395

Chester, Justice of, 106, 115, 116, 117, 119

loan by burgesses, 117, 201
Cheswardine (Chesewortham), 24, 25,

28, 30, 32, 33, 34, 35, 61, 64, 67, 71,

83, 92, 121, 125, 200, 2O6, 209, 222,
224, 226, 236, 240, 244, 247, 248,
264, 297, 301, 303, 306, 309, 321,
35 2 . 363

church, 61, 67, 209
Chet, forest of, 234
Chinon, 61

Chirk Castle, 343

Church Stretton, 144, 145, 163, 164, 209,

224, 363. See Strattondale
Churchstoke, 131, 132
Cilmeri, 196
Cirencestre, 345
Clanfield, 298
Clare, Honour of, 267
Clifford Castle, 275, 277, 282, 327
Cliva chace, 319
Clotley, 1 86

Clun Castle, 106, no, 115, 293
Clwyd River, in

upper, 192
Clyes chace, 297
Codford, 306, 319
Coiddwr, 163
Colchester, 241

Colham, 275, 277, 282, 327, 332, 342

Colston-Bassett, 282

Condover, 30

Conway Castle, 189, 205, 307, 361

River, in

Coolmere (Colemere), 145, 148, 224, 225,

231, 282, 363
Corfham, 206, 292, 293, 298, 301, 304,

309, 3I7 3i8, 319, 363
Corsham (error for Corfham), 292, 293
Corwen, 194
Cotentin, the, 10
Cotes, 52

Coventry, 293, 300
Cowlinge, 276

Crecy, 313, 315, 317, 327, 361
Criccieth Castle, 189, 311
Culmington, 304
Cwmhir Abbey, 197
Cydewain, 127
Cyveiliog, 163

DALKEY, 107
Dean, forest of, 233
Dee, River, 188, 194
Delarnere, forest of, 231

Dendover, 118, 163
Denham, 282, 332
Derby, 234

house, London, 347
Derbyshire, 228, 230, 246
Devonshire, 55, 182, 234
Dinas Bran, 188, 192
Diserth Castle, in, 116, 118
Docking, 20 ; Hundred of, 20
Doddington (Duddington), 306, 317, 318,

321

Dol, 7, 9, 10
Doncaster, 299
Dorsetshire, 87, 90, 282
Dover, 103, 132, 134
Downham (Norfolk), 13

(Suffolk), 214
Drayton (Sussex), 141
Dryslwyn Castle, 202, 203
Dublin, 92, 107
Dudlesbury, 316, 317
Dunfermline Abbey, 214

Dunham (Cheshire), 222, 334, 338, 340
Dunnesmore, 209
Dunstable, 371
Dupplin Moor, 279

EAST WALTON, 176-180

Eaton (Nettingetana, Gnattingdon), 20

Edgefield, n, 12, 34, 43

Edgware, 275, 277, 282, 285, 332, 333,

34. 34i

Edinburgh, 217

Ellardine, 83, 138, 170, 171

Ellesmere, 43, 119, 120, 130, 141, 144,
145, 148, 193, 197, 198, 224, 225,
226, 235, 246, 248, 266, 268, 276,
277, 282, 284, 326, 327, 329, 332,

339. 342, 355. 357 3^4. 3&5
Elleworthyn, 154
Elvestorp. See Ingoldisthorpe
Ercall, High, 172, 173
Quids' or Little, 29, 43, 44, 45, 75,

121, 200, 223, 226, 236, 288, 352,

363

Eardington, 87, 88
Erdiston, 93

Ernestre chace, 297, 319
Essex, 234, 240, 241
Estdone pasture in Chawton, 290
Estland (= Pomerania), 271
' Estrenche ' wood, 310
Ethiopia, 68

Evesham, 136, 179, 188, 224
Exeter, 55, 149, 286, 287

39 6

INDEX OF PLACES

Eye, Honour of, 283
Eyedale, 229

FAINTREE, 266

Falkirk, 209, 291

Felton, 93

Fenton-Botiler, 265

Flanders, 208, 242, 312, 313, 331, 361

Flint, le, Castle (la Roche), 188, 189

Flintshire, 335

Flitcham, 212

Ford, 66

Foston, 84, 143

France, 202, 204, 214, 239, 312, 327, 342,

343
Fransham, 49, 52, 63, 94, 95, 250, 251,

313

Freebridge, Hundred of, 20
Fring (Frenge), 20
Friskeneye, 280, 284
Frome, 286, 287
Fulham, 303
Fundenhale, 179

GALLOW Hundred, 20

Galloway, 210

Galtres, forest of, 231

Garveston, 334

Gascony, 80, 113, 120, 140, 192, 202,

203, 205, 207, 236, 237, 241, 242,

290, 291, 297, 301, 353, 354, 355,

35 6 . 36o

Gate Burton, 281
Gatesthorp, 156
Gaytonthorpe, 178
Geddington, 116
Gesewde, 42
Geyton (Gayton), 161
Ghent, 312, 328
Gissing, 94

Glasebury, 275, 277, 327
Glazeley, 33, 200, 214, 363
Glencry, deer park, 107
Gloucester, 99, 106, 108, 127, 136, 150,

168, 200, 210

Gloucestershire, 56, 167, 179, 221, 265
Glyndyvrdwy, 184, 215, 216
Goderone Lane, London, 232
Goldecote, 179
Golding, 87
Goldington, 236
Golstan (Goldstone), 200, 223
Gransete, 282
Grauncestre, 276

Greenhow, South, Hundred of, 48, 50,

52, 93, 286
Grendon, 324
Gresford, 337, 338
Gressenhall, 96, 251
Grippeswold (= Greifswald), 271
Guienne, 214, 301
Gwynedd, 163, 205

HALEHURST, 171

Halicarnassus, 373

Halidon Hill, 280, 358

Halnaker, Honour of, 10

Halton Castle, 106 ; Manor, 283, 332

Hampshire, 304, 319, 320

Hampton, 224, 225, 231, 282

Hanle, 233

Hanmer, 326, 341, 345

Harlech Castle, 190

Harpecote, 250

Hartismere, 138

Hatteleye, 236

Hatton, Hungry, 223

Haughmond Abbey, 25, 34, 35, 39, 41,

44. 45. 47. 125, 264, 298
Haveringland, 13
Hawarden, 161, 192
Hawley Castle, 133
Hay, 74

Haynes (Hawnes), 244, 246
Heacham (Hecham, Hitcham), 20, 151,

212, 238, 270

cell of Cluniacs at, 151

Thorp mill at, 151
Hemme, the, 91, 250
Hempton, free chapel at, 337
Henton, 145, 148
Hereford, 143, 203, 293
Herefordshire, 282
Hertfordshire, 182
Hillingdon church, 345
Hitchin (Hicce), 244, 245
Hodnet, 149, 250

Hoke, 90

Holborn, 282, 356, 332, 337, 338
Holewelle, Great, 236
Holkham, 20
Holland, parts of, 278
Holme, 20, 59, 60, 161, 168, 212, 213, 238,
270, 271

Church, 61, 82, 87, 100

port of, 208
Holmer, 282

Holy Land, 171, 225, 239. See Palestine
Hopton, 156, 200, 222

INDEX OF PLACES

397

Horbling, 283, 329

Hougne, la (Hogges), 314, 315

Hoxne, 306

Huccombe, 333

Hull, 224

Hunstanton, temp. Canute, 15

in Domesday, 17-20

3, 4, 9, ii, 12, 13, 15, 16, 25, 45, 63,

103, 151, 161, 166, 168, 169, 191,
200, 208, 213, 223, 238, 253, 256,
257, 258, 260, 261, 262, 263, 267,
269, 270, 271, 272, 294/351, 359

Church, 17, 35, 60, 155, 156, 200,

208, 264

market at, 78

mill at, 44, 45

port, 208
Huntingdon, 116, 234
Hynton, 250

INGHAM, 85, 328

Ingoldisthorpe (Elvestorpe), 20

Ipswich, 138

Ireland, 107, in, 135, 192, 224, 232,

278, 333. 334. 343
Isenbrigg, 212
Isle of Man, 348, 349

KARAKAWAIN, Karrecovan. See Carreg-
hova

Katerington, 175, 310

Kempston, 5, 6

Kenilworth, 134, 140

Kenninghall, 161

Kent, 56

Ketton (Rutland), 272

Kidderminster, 274

Kilworth, 137

Kingsbury, 282

Kingshaugh, 73

Kingston Lacy, 282

Kingston-on-Hull, 271

Kinnerley, 231

Kinton, Kynton, 83, 85, 156, 167, 185,
200, 204, 222, 264, 265, 325, 332

Knockin (Cnukin), 39, 42, 43, 47, 64,
119, 157, 167, 205, 208, 209, 215,
220, 255, 256, 257, 258, 260, 262,
265, 269, 294, 325, 332, 353, 364

Castle, 64, 65, 69, 76, 78, 114
plan of, 65

Chapel, 41, 64, 83, 88, 202, 209, 264,

326
Kynaston, 30

LAMBETH, 128

Lancaster, forest of, 84

La Reole, 120

Lathom House, 348

Launditch, Hundred of, 48, 50, 52, 93, 286

Lavingham, 94

Lee, the, 223

Leicester, 38, 89, 137

Leicestershire, 89, 92, 167

Leighton, 252

Buzzard, 246
Lewes, 132

monastery, 151
Lexham, 251
Leyes, 200
Leyton, 186

Lilleshall Abbey, 55, 61, 82, 87, 89, 90,

100

Limousin, the, 67
Linchelade, 246
Lincoln, 211, 243, 244, 274, 280, 292,

296, 297, 298

Castle, 275, 280, 283, 359

prebend of, 337

Lincolnshire, 275, 277, 278, 279, 282,

283, 332
Lingbrooke, 207
Linley, 83
Litcham (Lechesam, Lucheam, Lycham),

5, 34, 44, 45, 46-53, 85, 95, 98,

105, 125, 286

Netherhall manor in, 46
Liverpool, chace of, 229
Llanbadarn Castle, 192, 203
Llandebo, 163
Llandovery, 192, 193
Llanelwedd, 195
Llangollen, 188, 194
Lockeleye, 179

London, 137, 170, 189, 210, 214, 224,
232, 235, 236, 332

Tower of, 137, 170, 295, 332
Long forest of Shropshire, 157, 164
Longham, 51, 52

Longnolre, Longnor, 33, 77, 84, 206, 207,

298, 300, 303, 309, 363
Loppington, 54
Ludlow, 115

Lydbury, North, Castle, 109, 131
Lynn, 212, 271
Lythes, 175

MAELOR Saesneg, 205, 276. See Brom-

field
Maesbrooke, 33

INDEX OF PLACES

Maine, 71

Mancetter, Manecestr' (Warwickshire),

144
Marbury, Merbury, 170, 174, 175, 289,

309
March of Brittany, 10

Wales, 10, 24, 34, 36, 43, 61, 64, 72,

104, 108, no, 116, 123, 142, 187,
230, 249, 269, 282, 326, 331, 332,

344. 35 1 . 352, 353. 3^5

Marlborough, no, 112

Marmoutier, 7

Massingham, 13

Medburn, 89, 90

Melverley, Milverley, 33, 263, 265, 363

Menai Straits, 193

Mendham, 213

Merugge, 195

Middle, Myddle, Mudde, 33, 35, 61, 68,
86, 101, 121, 122, 156, 167, 187,
204, 210, 218, 220, 265, 308, 309,

335. 336, 343. 352, 363, 364
Middlehope Mill, 157
Middlesex, 275, 277, 282, 332
Middleton (Bedfordshire), 236

(Cambridgeshire), 186, 200, 213, 221,

264, 266, 324, 329, 332. See
Mudelynton
Mileham, 36, 45, 48, 49, 50, 51

Honour of, 23, 48, 105, 168, 213
Mixen, Myxle, 42

Mold, Mohaut, Montalt, 112, 114, 192
Monmouth, priory of, 9
Montford, 106
Montgomery, 77, 102, 104

Castle, 81, 86, 101, 102, 108, 109, 118,

119, 126, 130, 131, 135, 138, 193,
194, 198, 353

Ford, 102, 123, 130, 140

Honour of, 131, 132
Moreton, Morton, 33, 39, 162, 302

Toret, 250, 301
Morf, forest of, 242
Mortain, 7
Mottram, 267
Muddleswode, 209

Mudelynton, Middleton (Oxon.), 282, 329,
332, 336

Nettingnetuna. See Eaton
Nevin, vill of, 307
Newark, 75
Newbury, 282
Newcastle-Emlyn, 203

on-Tyne, 220, 269, 270, 275, 279,

281, 294, 295, 297, 300, 303, 309

-under- Lyme, 143
Newport Castle, 333
Newton-Harcourt, 183
Nicosia, in Cyprus, 147, 148
Nith, River, 211, 217
Niwetuna. See Bircham-Newton
Norfolk, 34, 35, 42, 43, 75, 138, 167,

168, 191, 213, 270, 351

forest in, 233
Normandy, 36, 66, 67, 71, 351
Norslepe near Knockin, 71
Northampton, 132, 133, 140, 167, 217,

234. 249

Northamptonshire, 275, 276, 277, 282
Northumberland, 297
Norton, 317
Norwich, 274

Nottingham, 28, 117, 304, 310
Nottinghamshire, 282

OAKHAM, 234
Olney, 199, 222
Olreton, 200, 222
Orewin bridge, 194, 196
Osbaston, 29, 30, 36, 54, 352

mill, 209

Oswestry, 36, 37, 43, 63, 68, 69, 70, 74,
83, 119, 122, 124, 181, 187, 188,
193, 225, 293, 364

Church of St. Oswald, 63, 87

constable of, 72, 106, no, 115, 188,

231

Hundred of, 365
Overton, 276

Madok, 284, 327
Oxford, 74, 124, 126

Oxfordshire, 179, 221, 275, 277, 282,
332

NAGINTON, 26, 29, 31, 44, 209 PALESTINE, 145, 146, 171, 224. See

Naringes. See Snoring Holy Land

Necton, 251 Palgrave, Little, 251

Ness, 24, 28, 32, 33, 35, 61, 67, 156, 167, Peak, Castle of the, 188, 228, 229, 230,

186, 200, 204, 222, 264, 265, 324, 246, 249, 357

325, 326, 332, 352, 363, 364 Peaton, 317

INDEX OF PLACES

399

Penkhull, 143
Perth, 280, 284
Peverec, water of, 70
Peverel Castle, i

- Honour of, 143
Peyry, la, 317
Pickenham, South, 213
Pimhill Hundred, 364, 365
Platte, mill of, 156
Plattebrug mill, 70
Poitou, 80, 82, 99, 149
Pole Castle (now Powys), 66, 164, 296.

See Welshpool
Polslo, 56

Pomfret, Pontefract, 272, 273, 300
Pontesbury, 312
Porchester forest, 290, 304, 306
Portsmouth, 67, 80, 113, 204, 205, 312,

313. 327
Powys, 187, 205, 296. See Pole

Marches of, 202, 203

Principality of Upper, 114, 188
Pultrye, the, 341

Py lardy nton, 179

QUATFORD, 87

RADCLYVE, 282
Radnor, 74, 187, 192, 202
Ragelyth bosc, 164
Ramsey. See St. Benet's
Rednall wood, 156
Rhos, 175

Rhuddlan, no, in, 112, 113, 189, 198
Rhuthallt, 215

Ringstead, 13, 16, 20, 44, 63, 105, 161,
213, 238

Church of St. Andrew, 150
Rochester Castle, 236
Rockingham forest, 233, 234
Rode, 86

Rome, 237, 238, 239, 240, 249, 357
Ronhale, 244
Rougham, 96, 250, 251
Rowelton, 154
Rowton, 64, 138, 170, 171
Roxburgh, 252, 310
Runcton, North, 40
Rutland, forest in, 233, 234
Ruyton, Ruton (of the eleven towns),
33, 35. 68 > 6 9, 156. 167, 214, 352

Heath mill, 156, 157

mill, 70, 156, 209, 363
Ryarsh (Kent), 236

ST. BARTHOLOMEW the Less, 340

Benet of Ramsey, abbey of, 3, 16

Botolph without Aldrychgate, 339

Dunstan's in the East, 341

Edmund's, abbot of (1200), 49

Florent, 7, 8, 9, n

Macaire, 121

Waleric, Honour of, 282
Salcey, 233
Saltfleteby, 282

Sarum, 234

Scartho, 282

Scheringham, 95

Schevyndon, Shavington, 221, 327

Scotfield, 230, 246

Scotland, 140, 192, 207, 209, 210, 211,
212, 217, 243, 256, 264, 269, 278,
279, 281, 291, 293, 295, 297, 302,

359

Sedgebrook, 283, 329
Sedgeford, Secesford, 20, 238
Selewode forest, 234
Severn, River, 132, 331
Shanketon, Shangton, Sanketon, 71, 82,

Shawbury, 159
Shenyndon, 179, 265
Sheriff Hales, 25
Shernbourne, 20
Shenstone, 332
Shipbrooke, 266
Shotwick (Cheshire), 232
Shrawardine, 31, 106, 115
Shrewsbury, 31, 35, 37, 68, 70, 74, 76,

77, 78, 80, 89, 150, 198, 235, 257,

33i

Abbey, 31, 82, 156, 206

Castle, 37, 38, 103, 108, 109, 118,

119, 127, 130, 133, 134, 135, 136,

137, 140. 35 2

Church of Friars Preachers, 124
.St. Julian, 89

St. Mary, 75

Shropshire, Salop, 34, 75, 82, 167, 187,

202, 208, 221, 240, 291, 298, 309,

320, 332, 352, 364
Sicily, j2 3 7
Siena, 340
Smithdon Hundred, 16, 17, 19, 166, 213,

267

Sneth Castle, 81
Snetterton, Snitterton, 13, 63, 161,

213

Snettisham, 20, 238, 270, 271
Snoring, Little, Naringes, 51, 52, 95,

96, 251, 286

400

INDEX OF PLACES

Snowdon, Snowdonia, 72, 117, 187, 189,

193. *94

Solway Firth, 211
Somersetshire, 82, 86, 87, 90
Somerton Castle, 283
Soudley Magna and Parva, 223
Southampton, 36, 234, 298, 327
Spalding, 271, 281
Sporle, Sparle, 8, 9, 36
Stafford, 222

Staffordshire, 34, 148, 200, 255, 332
Stamford, Estaunford, 220, 295, 330
Stanfield, 48, 51
Stanhoe, 20
Stanton Lacy, 261
Starston, 13
Stepney, 220, 266, 271, 294, 357, 360,

37 1

Stirling Castle, 215
Stockton, 236
Stoke, 143
Stokesay, 261
Stotfold, 244
Strata Marcella, 165
Strattondale, Stretton, 141, 148, 164.

See Church-Stretton
Stretton-upon-Avon, 37, 39, 85
Sturemere, 180
Sudeley, 159
Suffolk, 75
Summerfield, 20
Sundorn, 26
Sussex, 148, 291
Suthle wood, 67
Sutmere. See Summerfield
Sutton, 48, 170, 206, 284, 293, 301, 304,

309. 317

chace, 241

(Salop), 138, 174, 300, 319

TAILLEBOURG, 149

Teddesmere, 71, 209

Testerton, 51

Tew, 329

Tewein (Tuam), 232

Tewkesbury, 221

Thetford priory, 14, 15

Thorneford mill, 326

Thornhagh, 304

Thornham, 20, 191, 212, 270

Tideswell, 229

Titchwell (Tigeswelle), 20, 191, 270

Titteshall, 48, 51

Totebache (Worcester), 179

Tottington, 12, 14, 15, 63, 125, 213

church of St. Andrew, 63

Touraine, 71

Towy, vale of, 202

Treffnant, 163

Trentham, 34, 35 ., 61, 80

Trevgarnedd, 175

Tunis, 145

Tweedmouth, 264

Tysho, 179

UXBRIDGE, 282, 332

VlNEtCOTE, 209

WADENHOE, 276, 282
Walcote, 1 86
Wallingford, 134

Honour of, 282
Walpole, 267

Walton d'Eiville, 186, 221, 265

(Norfolk). See East Walton
Wai war, 116

Warin, Sheriff of Shropshire, Honour

of, 23

Warwickshire, 92, 179, 221, 265
Watton, 95
Wauton, 95

Weasenham, Wesenham, 48, 50, 52, 213
Webblescote, Webblescowe, 47, 61, 209
Webscott, 35, 86
Wellingham, 48, 50, 52, 286
Wellington, Welynton, 24, 25, 233
Welsh-Hampton, 145, 226, 363

March. See March of Wales

Pool, 205. See Pole Castle
Wem, 306

Wentnor mill, 66, 85
Westacre, 39, 95, 178
Westbury, 282

Westminster, 88, 295, 296, 299
Weston, 42

Turvill, 306

under Redcastle, 38
Westumscete, 224
Westwinch, 95

Whitchurch, 172, 173, 174, 193, 206,
261, 297, 298, 301, 303, 304, 305,
309. 317. 3i8, 321, 363

Whittington, 43

Wicklow Castle, 343

Wiggenhall, 177, 270

Wilcott, 70, 325, 326

INDEX OF PLACES

401

Wileley, Willey, 171

Wilfreton, Insula de, 204

Wiltshire, 282, 319

Winch, East, 46

Winchester, 67, 124, 234

Windsor, 234, 278

Wirral forest, 107

Wistamstow, 337

Witchingham, 13

Wode Street, London, 232

Wollascote, 89

Wollatson Hall (Notts), 330

Wolrighton, 200

Wombridge priory, 77, 82, 100

Worcester, 71, 76, 81, 103, 106, 109,
135, 187, 188, 189

Worcestershire, 144, 179

Wormegay, 40, 121

Wreningham, 179

Wrockwardine, 67, 70, 77, 78, 79, 81,
84, 85, 99, 144, 145, 165, 170, 171,
173, 1 86, 200, 206, 288, 290, 298,
301, 304. 309, 318, 353, 363

Wroxton, 179

Wulfricheston, 92
Wulton (Bedfordshire), 246
Wunedon, 91
Wychwood forest, 234
Wye, River, 190, 195
Wykey, 33

Wylye, Hundred of, 230
Wylynton (Bedford), 246
Wymbrghtoneswode, 164
Wythiford, 61, 62, 69
Wyvelcote, 200, 222

YALE, 192

Yarmouth, Great, 271

Little, 271

Ybelin, 147

York, 209, 222, 226, 227, 264, 270, 291,

297. 298, 300, 303, 357
Yorkshire, 182, 248
Yrfon, River, 196

ZIERIKSEE (Sirice), ship of, 270

2 D

INDEX OF SUBJECTS

ABERFRAW, lord of, 102, 142

Aid for fortifying Knockin Castle, 76, 78

King's, 32
Albam firmam, 50

Albini estates, 154, 157, 161

All Souls College, Archives of, 341

and n.

Alnetum, 325
Altar, portable, 340
Alveley, grant of, photograph of, 27,

prebend of, 87

Angevin origin of the le Stranges, 8,

9, 25, 351

Aquitaine, seneschal of, 302, 306, 360
Archceologia Cambrensis, 165
Archaeological Institute, 165
Archer, foot, age of, 187
Archers, 278, 312, 313, 314, 315
Armour, 231
Arms, College of, 347

of le Strange, 204, 211, 218, 219,

220

Roll of, 220, 368, 369, 371

Array, Commission of, 311, 313, 318,

33i 335 344

supervisor of, 274

Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, 374

Ashridge muniments, 335

Assarts, 100, 226

Assize of bread, &c., 186. See Liberties

Middlesex (1199), 88

Assizes de Jerusalem, 147

BALEYN, 284. See Whale
Banneret, 313, 314
robes as a, 274

402

Bannerets of England, British Museum

list of, 371
Baron, title of, 294
Barons' Wars, 126-136

History of (Blaauw), 134

Bayeux tapestry, 188
Beauchamp, barony of, 193, 230
Bedford, barony of, 230, 236, 244
Beloe's Brasses of Norfolk, 329
Bendlet, Or, borne by le Strange of

Hunstanton, 372
Binham Chartulary, n
Blaauw's History of the Baron's Wars, 134
Blackmere, Strange of ; barony, creation

of, 294, 360

merger of, 361

Blancas (blanched money), 56
Blancminster, Eleanor le Strange de,

tomb of, at High Ercall, 172
Bloodshed, pleas of, 186
Blundevill = Blonde Ville = Album

monasterium = Oswestry, 157
Bordeaux, Constable of, 302, 306
Bow, long and short, 188
Bradford Hundred Roll, 121
Bread and beer, assize of, 290
Bretaschia, 109
Breton connection of le Stranges. See

Angevin

Bridge's History of Northamptonshire, 341
Bridgnorth, Trinity Hospital, founded

by Ralph le Strange, 41

seal of, 41

Bucks, 107, 231, 233, 241, 243

CADENCY, marks of, 369, 370
Caerlaverock, poem on siege of, 210, 211

INDEX OF SUBJECTS

403

Calendarium Genealogicum, 171

Cambria triumphans, 205

Cannock, 65

Carnarvon, exchequer of, 311

Castleacre Chartulary, 5, 39, 47, 49, 94,

95
Castle Rising, residence of Queen Isabella

at, 162
Castles, girdle of, round North Wales,

III, 112

Celibacy of clergy, 88, 89
Chester, barony of, 160

loan by burgesses, 117, 201

office of Justice of, 106, 354
Close Rolls, 8 1 n.

Cobham arms, 342, 343

Cog, a, 208

Complete Peerage, 319

Corn, taker of, in Salop, Norfolk, and

Cambridge, 207
Council, Great, 272
Counterfeiters of the King's sterlings,

316, 331

Court Rolls at Hunstanton, 151, 152
Cowell's Interpreter, 166
Crenellate, licence to, 218
Criminous clerk, 200, 201
Croisades, Recueil des Historiens des,

H7
Crown jewels of Queen Philippa, 330

Plea Rolls, 201

Crusade of 1270, 141, 145, 146, 360
Cwm, a, 196

DEBTS contracted, 201, 230, 231, 235,

255
Deer, 233. See Does

fallow, 107, 126

leap, 229, 234
Deodand, 166

Dering Charters, 176, 177, 178

Destrier, Dextrarius, 162, 314

Dictum de Kenilworth, 138, 140, 141,

144, 171, 224, 235
Differencing of le Strange Arms, 372,

373
Dispensation to marry within prohibited

degrees, 302, 309, 340
Docking charters, 152
Does, 107, 126, 233, 241
Dogs, lawing of, 234
Domesday, 12, 13, 15, 17-20, 351

acre, 17
Dotninus, title of, 294

Dugdale's Baronage, additions to. See
Townsend

Monastic on, 61
Dunstable, Annals of, 128, 132

tournament of, 371

EARLIEST feoffment of a le Strange in
Shropshire, 25

grant to. See Alveley
Ecclesiastical extortions, 119
Edmondson's Baronagium, 264
Edward Lloyd Tenure Roll, 186, 235.

225
Ellesmere, a Marcher State, 364

group of manors, 363

Encaustic tiles with le Strange arms,

165

Essarts, 76. See Assarts
Estover, 233
Evesham, battle of, 133, 136-141, 171,

188, 204, 235, 355, 357
Exchequer Calendars, 146, 232
Eyton the first to trace real origin of

family, 3, n

FABIAN'S Chronicle, 341

Fairs held on anniversary of patron

saint, 245
Fencible men, 331
Feodary of 1316, 298, 300
Feudal Aids, 199, 213, 235, 267
Firewood, 234
Fitz Alan fief, 114
Fitz Alans and le Stranges, 9
Flemings, 270
Forest Assize Roll, 157

common passages in, 234

Justice of, duties of, 233, 234, 249,

357

Laws, liberal policy of Edward I,

242, 35 8

trespass in, 157
Forestage, 67

France, invasions of, 73, 113, 114

truce (1298), 209
Franchises, 224

exceptional, acquired by le Stranges,

363

Frankpledge, 50, 186, 199, 240, 276
Free warren, 121, 204, 206, 224, 290,

309, 363

French Roll of Edward III, 327
Fring Charters, 152
Furcas, 122

404

INDEX OF SUBJECTS

GALLOWS, Pleas of, 122, 186, 290, 363

Gaol Delivery Roll, 200

Gascon Rolls, 204

Gascony, Seneschal of, 301, 302, 303

Gersuma (a fee), 226

Gesta Fulconis Filii Warini, 68, 69

Gilliflower, clove of, rent, 51

' Good Peers,' meeting of, 299

Griffith of Bromfield Pedigree, 216

Guanock, 65

Guards Doverant, 71

HALIDON Hill, battle won by archers,
280, 358

Hart, 229

Haughmond Abbey, grants to, 25, 26,
28, 29, 30, 54, 55, 60, 61, 64, 67, 70,
82, 83, 84, 85, 92, 157, 181, 185, 208,
224, 325, 326, 341, 345, 366. See
Index of Places

Chartulary, 26, 35, 41, 44, 54, 64,

88, 150, 181, 208
Hawk, soar, rent, 51

sparrow, rent, 51, 225
Hay (enclosure), 233, 319
Heacham Court Rolls, &c., 152

Henry I, King, created new aristocracy,
8, 10, 23, 25

II, King, transfers new men to Welsh

March, 23, 24, 25, 26
Heraldry of le Stranges, 368-374. See

Arms

Heriot, 225, 226
Heybote, 310
Hide of land, 17

Historical MSS. Commission, 152
Hobelars, 314, 315
Holme Charters, &c., 208
Homicide, composition for, 80
Homines ad arma, 272
Horse, price of, 162, 166
Hostages hung by Henry II, 37
Housebote, 310
Hue and Cry, pleas of, 186
Hundred Court, Suit to, 363

Rolls, 229, 253, 364

Hunstanton Charters, Rolls, &c., 152

manor, 166, 186, 253

settlement of on Hamon le

Strange, 256-263

two distinct manors in, 25, 169

INDENTURE, meaning of, 259
Indults, 340

Infangentheof, 204, 240, 363
Infantry, 188, 202, 204
Interdict, the, 71
Ireland, deer sent to (1244), 107

hogs sent to (1172), 37

invasion of (1172), 37

Treasurer of, in, 116
Iron mine, 304

JEWS, borrowing from, 143
John, King, his quarrel with the Pope,
353

KING'S Household, 307, 333

Knight, 333
Knight's fee, 29

Knockin, a Marcher State, 364

Castle, 30, 65, 82, 352, 353

Chapel, Norman work at, 41

fair and market at, 119

fee of, 162, 363

soldiers from, 220

LANCASTER, 188

Earl of, pardon to his adherents,

272, 296
Leicestershire, land in, held by John le

Strange (II), 71, 82, 84
Leland's Collectanea, 2, 9
Le Strange family, characteristics of,

365. 366

lands in the March, status of, 43]
Lestrange, de, French family of, 374
Levediesneve, the, 270

Lewes, battle of, 132, 136, 140, 188, 195,

224, 354. 357

Mise of, 132

Liber niger Scaccarii, 32, 37, 43
Liberationes constitutes, 57
Liberi tenentes at Ellesmere, 225
Liberties, royal, 50, 204
Lilleshall Chartulary, 35 n., 80
Lincoln, Constableship of, 274, 275

earldom of, not enjoyed by Eubulo

le Strange, 274

descent of, 284

third penny of, 274, 283, 284
Lincoln's Inn, origin of name, 282
Lollards, 341

London citizens' forfeiture for adherence

to de Montfort, 137, 170
Loyalty of the le Stranges, Eyton's

tribute to, 24, 82, 366

INDEX OF SUBJECTS

405

Lynn Corporation Accounts, 180
Muniments, 95

MAGNA Charta, name of John le Strange

(II) not attached to, 74
Majesty, title used in thirteenth century,

125

Majores Barones, 298
Manor, sources of revenue from a, in

thirteenth century, 160
March, custom of the, 43
Marcher Barons' change of front (1263),

128, 129, 354

family, le Stranges a typical, 351, 365

lordships, growth of, 364, 365, 366

almost independent, 364

Married clergy, 88

Memoranda Roll of Exchequer, 315, 327

Men-at-arms, 312, 314, 315

Middle Castle, description of, 218, 219.

See Myddle
Milites Regis, 307
Mohun de Dunster, barony of, 342, 347

arms of, 342

Money, purchasing power of, in twelfth

century, 34, 43

fifteenth century, 145

Montgomery, lordship of, 309
Montgomeryshire collections, 165
Mortmain, statute of, 209, 232
Motfee, 122
Muniment Room at Hunstanton Hall,

3, 151, 152, 169, 176, 251, 268
Muntarii, 121 and n.
Myddle, History of, by Richard Gough,

218

NARROW Seas, supremacy of England

over, 299

Ness, description of, 31
New aristocracy created by Henry I,

8, 10, 25

feoffment, knights' fees of, 33, 43

men transferred to Welsh March by

Henry II, 23, 25
Nomina Villarum, 222, 297
Norfolk feoffment of le Strange under

Earl of Arundel, 63

le Stranges of merely local importance,

witnesses to Knockin Deed, 259
Northampton, Council of (1177), 39
Norwich taxation, 237

thieves in thirteenth century, 200

OAKS, 233, 234, 306

Ordainers, the, 267, 297, 360

Orewin Bridge, battle of, 195-7, 355

Origin of family of le Strange, i, 3, 8

Originalia Roll, 81

Oswestry, the most advanced post on

the north-west March, 36
sale of King's stores, at, 72
Outremer, Lignages d', 147
Oxford. See Provisions of Oxford

PACK-SADDLES for army, 303
Palatine jurisdiction, 106
Pannage, 230
Papal Letters, calendar of, 293

See, exactions of, 104
Passagium carectarum, 164
Patent Rolls, 81 n.

Peace, Commission of the, 319, 331, 333,

335, 341, 344
Pedigree by Roger L' Estrange of Hoe,

2, 266
Pesson, 164

Pimhill Hundred Roll, 55, 121
Pipe Rolls, 27, 30, 32, 33, 34, 37, 39,

40, 42, 54, 61, 62, 65, 67, 70, 73,

87, 90, 103, 118, 146, 202
Pit, franchise of, 122, 163
Plea Rolls, 42, 61, 63, 140, 185, 189
Pleas of the Crown, 240
Poitevins, 101
Pope Boniface VIII, letter of the barons

to, 211, 212, 243, 249, 292, 355, 360
Porpoise from Ireland, 107
Powys, Princes of, 162, 296

Owen de la Pole resigns Principality

of, 163

Prcestitum, 30
Protection, letter of, 80
Provisions of Oxford, 124, 125, 129, 143,

354

RALPH le Strange, confusion as to several

of this name, 46, 47
Ramsey, Chartulary of, DO, 105
Rebellion of 1173-4, 352
Red Book of the Exchequer, 33, 36, 44,

' Regard, out of,' 67
Rege Captivo, Patents of Henry III,

136, 144

Rhys ap Maredudd, rising of, 202-3
Ringstead Charters and Rolls, 152

406

INDEX OF SUBJECTS

Roll of Arms of Caerlaverock, 210, 211

Henry III, 368

Rome, Roger le Strange, Envoy to, 238-

240

Rose Rent, 50, 174, 256, 262, 263
Ry, feoda de, 94

Sagittam barbatam rent, 168
Sagittarii, 188

St. Asaph, Red Book of, 215
St. Florent Charter, 7, 8
Salop Chartulary, 31, 87, 156

taxer of the ninth of, 312
Scotch War, subsidy for, 301
Scotland, 122, 123, 209, 255, 361
Scots, 270

Scottish throne, succession to (1291),

237, 238, 239, 240
Scutage, exemption from, 75
Scutiferi Regis, 307
Sea-power, advantage of, in
Seal, importance of loss of, 171
Seal of Thomas Corbet, 77

Hawyse de la Pole, 165

Henricus fiT Radulphi, 91

Fulk le Strange, of Blackmere, 292,

37. 37 1

Henry of Brocton, 369

John (III), 204

(V), 370

(VI), 259, 371

Hamon, the Crusader, 369

Robert, 170

Roger of Ellesmere, 370

Roger (5th Lord Strange of

Knockin), 332

Richard (7th Lord Strange of

Knockin), 277, 341

Sedgeford Charters, &c., 152

Serfs (nativi), 51

Servientes, 37, 76

Settlement of Knockin and Hunstanton
(1309), 256

Severn, diversion of the, 120

Shakespeare mentions Strange of Black-
mere, 322

Ship from Norfolk, 212

' la Welyfare del Brele,' 270

of Flanders and Zeeland, 270

of St. Mary, 149
Shrewsbury, bailiffs' accounts, 166

Deanery of St. Mary's, 88

free chapel of St. Michael, 312

liberties of, 206

MSS. of Corporation, "2 50

Shrewsbury, oaks for repairs, 76

Parliament of, 163

Shropshire Archaeological Society, 206

Assize Roll, 88

Churches. See Cranage

Drawings of Ancient Monuments, 173

feoffments of le Stranges in, 24, 362

forestership of, 212

Forest Roll, 126

Roll of Tenants, temp. Edw. I, 186
Shropshire, sheriffs of :

Guy le Strange, 22, 31, 35, 36,
38, 40, 352

Geoffrey de Vere (1164), 37

Thomas de Erdington (1219), 74

John le Strange (II), (1216), 74
(Ill), (1236), 102, 109, 119

Robert de la Hay (1235), IO2

Hamon le Strange (1263), 129

Thomas Corbet (1266), 137

Bogo de Knovill (1276), 172, 188

Richard de Harley (1301), 219

John le Strange (V), (1308), 219

Roger de Cheney (1316), 219
Silver mines at Carreghova, 41, 42, 73

plate of Alice de Lacy, 285
Snettisham Charters, &c., 52
Snowdon, lord of, 102, 142
Soldiers' pay, 113

' Some Feudal Lords and their Seals,'

by Lord Howard de Walden, 370
Sparrow-hawk rent, 305
Spears, 188
Sporting rights, 67

Spurs, tenure by pair of, 221, 264, 304
Stags, 107, 126, 157, 229, 233
Stapeldon, Bishop of Bath and Wells,

his Register, 287

Stapleton brass at Ingham, 328, 329
Statute Merchant Bond, 256, 260, 261,

262, 271

Stirling Castle, siege of, 215, 312
Strange, barony by writ of 1628, 347-

35. 362

earldom of, 349, 362

John, 8th Lord Strange of Knockin,

tomb of, in Hillingdon Church, 346

of Knockin, barony of, 210, 347,

35 6 362

Roger le, tomb in Hunstanton Church,

346

Stretward, 122

Subsidy for Crusade of 1270, 146
Suffolk Fee Rolls, 214
Surnames, origin of, i
Swans on the Thames, 345

INDEX OF SUBJECTS

407

TAXATION of Pope Nicholas (1291), 63,

237

Templars, 219, 357
Terra dates, 27, 28, 30, 144
Testa de Nevill, 24, 32, 85, 94, 105, 143,

180, 181, 182

Thief at Hunstanton beheaded, 200
Tithe on hay and mills, 102
Tottington Charters, 152
Tournaments. See Stepney, Dunstable,

Peverel
Tout, Professor T. F., great help as

regards Welsh history, vi, 7, passim
Triers of Petitions, 332, 344
Trivet, Continuator of, 273. See Hall
Trouvere legend, 9

UNDERWOOD cut for safety of travellers,
234

Valettus Regis, 305, 307, 308, 361

Venison, 229, 234, 242

service of taking, 297, 305

WAIFS, 240, 363

Wakheria (Welshry) de Knohyn, 167,

363
Wales, Act of Union, 364

last rising in, 204, 207

no lasting conquest of, before Edward

If 103

Prince of, title of, 102, 142

statute of, 198

Warenne family estates, 327

Warren, 186

Waverley, annals of, 137

Weever's Funeral Monuments, 345 and

Welshpool (la Pole), 163
Welsh prisoners, 117

Rolls, 175

soldiers employed by Henry III in

Gascony, 113

pay of, 113

employed by Edward III 'in Scot-
land, 281, 357, 359

War, first of Edward I, 187-189
second of Edward I, 191-198

' Wars of Edward I,' by J. E. Morris,

187

Westminster, Council of (1102), 88

Wethers, rent of, 326

Whale, 191, 280. See Baleyn

Whitchurch, manor of, 172

Wigornia, Annales Prioratus de, 76

William I, King, grants by, 7

Wine, 107, 232

Wombridge, Chartulary of, 300

Women, unless heiresses, seldom men-
tioned in records, 20

Woods near roads cut down, 112. See
Underwood

Worcester, ordinance of, 135, 136

Wreck of sea, 270, 276, 280

Wrockwardine, manor of, 70, 78, 79

YBELIN, House of, 147
Yeoman, King's, 265, 266, 305, 306, 307,
308

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